Blue White Illustrated

GAME GRADES QUARTERBACK Trace McSorley threw for 381 yards and three touchdowns, but he completed only 55 percent of his passes. More important, he had three interceptions, one of which came mid- way through the fourth quarter, when PSU needed to put a drive together to put the game away. GRADED RUNNING BACKAs we've seen far too often this season, Saquon Barkley strug- gled to find holes from start to finish. If you subtract his 36-yard rush in the be- ginning of the third quarter, Barkley av- eraged just 2.1 yards per carry on the day. That's been a common theme throughout Big Ten play. GRADEC RECEIVERThe conditions were poor throughout the game, but they impacted Penn State's receiving corps much more than Michigan State. DaeSean Hamilton and Mike Gesicki both had solid days, and DeAndre Thompkins made a nice play to give the Lions a lead in the fourth quarter. However, he'll be haunted by his drop on fourth down during the of- fense's final drive. GRADEC- OFFENSIVE LINEFor the most part, the pass blocking wasn't a major issue, as McSorley had time to throw more often than not. However, this unit continues to struggle in the rushing game, as Barkley had little to no room to run. GRADED DEFENSIVE LINEMichigan State's of- fensive line has been one of the Big Ten's best this season, allowing an av- erage of just 1.3 sacks per game. That held true on Saturday, as Penn State managed just two sacks. They also had just four tackles for loss but could have had a few more if it weren't for sloppy tackling. GRADEC- LINEBACKERKoa Farmer led the team in tackles with eight, while Manny Bowen added seven. However, the pass coverage has been suspect all season, and that was once again an issue against the Spartans, as QB Brian Lew- erke was consistently able to complete his short to intermediate passes in piv- otal situations. GRADEC- DEFENSIVE BACKIt wasn't that long ago that many considered the defen- sive backs the strength of Penn State's defense. Over the past two weeks, they've looked anything but. It's one thing against J.T. Barrett, but it's a whole different story when you allow 400 yards passing against Lewerke. He was averaging just 225 yards passing per game coming into Saturday's ac- tion. GRADED SPECIAL TEAMSGillikin averaged only 39 yards per punt on four at- tempts, but that's understandable con- sidering the conditions. Tyler Davis converted his only field goal attempt from 26 yards. GRADEC COACHESBrent Pry was forced to bring pressure due to a lack of pass rush from the defensive line. That left the defensive backs to fend for them- selves. He's in a no-win situation. On offense, Joe Moorhead did a solid job exploiting the mismatches that Dae- Sean Hamilton and Mike Gesicki cre- ated, but he abandoned the rushing game late in the game. PSU's offensive front wasn't creating many holes, but if Barkley was ever going to break a run, it was late in the game when Michigan State's defensive front was wearing down. GRADEC N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 6 R Y A N   S N Y D E R | S N Y D E R 4 2 0 8 8 @ G M A I L . c O M Sizing up the Nittany Lions' performance in their loss to the Spartans Barkley had one long run in the sec- ond half, but for the most part he was bottled up by Michigan State's defense. He fin- ished with 63 yards on the ground, and as a team, Penn State had only 65. Photo by Steve Manuel

• Cover