No. 21 Penn State football (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) lost its second game against a top-five opponent this season in Ann Arbor over the weekend.

The Nittany Lions never looked like a winning team against Michigan thanks to a stout Wolverine defense. How did some of the team’s most important pieces perform on Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor?

Quarterback: D-

It’s safe to say Trace McSorley had his worst game as Penn State’s starting quarterback on Saturday.

He finished the game 5-for-13 with 86 passing yards and an interception along with -6 rushing yards on 12 carries. The star signal caller looked like a shell of himself, perhaps because of the knee injury he suffered against Iowa.

Tommy Stevens came on in relief on three different occasions, but wasn’t much better. He led Penn State in rushing with 52 yards and a score on 10 carries, and he went 3-for-4 through the air with 35 yards and an interception on a questionable-at-best decision.

Stevens’ rushing touchdown in garbage time prevents this position group from receiving a failing grade — the score with just under two minutes left in the game prevented Penn State from being shut out for the first time since 2001.

Backs & Receivers: F

Drops have been a problem for Penn State’s receivers all season, but this game was easily the worst of the bunch. A Nick Bowers drop fell right into a Michigan defensive back’s arms for an interception, and DeAndre Thompkins also made a bad drop with a step on his defender.

Penn State’s passing game was mostly non-existent on Saturday afternoon, but two young players did step up and make plays. Pat Freiermuth hauled in a 25-yard pass on the game’s first play and led the team in receiving with 51 yards, while Jahan Dotson made two catches and looked good in his brief cameo.

Meanwhile, Miles Sanders was completely bottled up in the run game. He finished the game with a paltry 14 yards on seven carries, but Journey Brown provided a brief spark off the bench with an eight-yard run on his only attempt of the game.

The Nittany Lions’ skill players were non-factors through Saturday’s game, and it showed on the scoreboard.

Offensive Line: F

Penn State lost the battle in the trenches on Saturday, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.

McSorley and Stevens got sacked a combined five times and hit on one other occasion, but those statistics don’t account for the other times the quarterbacks were flushed out of the pocket and forced into short gains on the ground.

The Nittany Lion offense was held to 186 total yards and just 68 on the ground. A lot of that falls on the offensive line’s inability to create holes for its running backs and give McSorley and Stevens time to work in the passing game.

Front Seven: D

Michigan ran all over Penn State, finishing with a total of 259 yards on the ground.

Shea Patterson’s mobility was a huge problem for this unit, and head coach James Franklin said his team’s over-aggressiveness against inside zone concepts was a big reason why Michigan’s new quarterback was able to use his legs so effectively. Karan Higdon was also excellent at running back with 132 yards and a score on the ground.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the defensive front, however. Yetur Gross-Matos picked up the Nittany Lions’ lone sack on Saturday, and Jan Johnson played well at middle linebacker with 10 tackles and a near-interception.

Secondary: C-

Like its front-seven counterparts, Penn State’s secondary was not as bad as a 42-7 scoreline might make you think.

Nick Scott came up with a huge field goal block in the second quarter, and Garrett Taylor scooped it up and brought it back for a touchdown that was ultimately wiped off the board due to penalties. The safety duo combined for 12 tackles through the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, cornerbacks Amani Oruwariye and John Reid combined for two pass breakups and two tackles. Reid got burned badly on the Wolverines’ second touchdown of the game, but Patterson didn’t pick the secondary apart much otherwise.

Penn State limited Michigan to just 144 passing yards and two touchdowns which, in the grand scheme of things, is not all that bad. Michigan really won this game in the trenches and because of unforced errors by Penn State.