No. 9 Penn State football improved its record to 9-1 with a 34-27 victory over Indiana at Beaver Stadium.

The contest was perhaps closer than some may have anticipated, but at the end of the day, the Nittany Lions went 1-0 this week and bounced back from a tough loss at the hands of Minnesota. James Franklin’s program may not have put together a perfect performance against the Hoosiers, but it was enough to get over the line with a victory.

Whether it was a standout performance from Journey Brown or another tough day for the Nittany Lions’ secondary, here are our grades of the team’s performance on Saturday.

Quarterbacks: B+

Sean Clifford turned the ball over after a strip sack by Indiana’s James Head Jr., but aside from that, there wasn’t much to complain about in terms of his performance — especially considering some circumstances out of his control.

With an 11-for-23, 179-yard output, Clifford wasn’t spectacular. He had some accuracy issues on deep passes, but at the end of the day, he did enough to lead the Nittany Lions to victory. Clifford was missing his favorite target for most of the game after KJ Hamler didn’t return to action following an injury on a kick return late in the first quarter. It’s also hard to complain about a quarterback’s performance after he found the end zone three times — twice on the ground, and once through the air.

Clifford bounced back from a rough performance against Minnesota, but he wasn’t the only quarterback to meaningfully contribute. Back-up quarterback Will Levis had three carries for five yards in very important spots for Penn State.

Levis picked up a crucial fourth-down conversion on Penn State’s final drive of the afternoon. Ricky Rahne inroduced a package in which Levis lines up at quarterback and Clifford goes out wide, but the only plays ran from that were straight runs by the redshirt freshman. Whether or not Rahne reaches further into the bag of tricks remains to be seen, but it was an interesting, new look to roll out against the Hoosiers.

Running Backs: B

Journey Brown posted 100 yards on the ground for the second straight game and the third time this season. He was excellent yet again, and Penn State needed him to be after Noah Cain sat out again despite being a full participant in pregame warm-ups.

Brown’s highlight of the day was a 35-yard rushing score that extended Penn State’s lead to 27-14 in the third quarter. He once again got to showcase his straight-line speed in his second touchdown of 35-plus yards in as many weeks.

Penn State didn’t get too many meaningful contributions from its running backs beyond Brown once again. Devyn Ford was better this week by posting 38 yards on eight carries, and he picked up a crucial block on Sean Clifford’s 38-yard rushing score. Elsewhere, Ricky Slade got just one touch for a yard in the run game.

Slade also made an 18-yard reception out of the backfield, and Brown logged two grabs for 20 yards. It’s unclear whether or not Noah Cain will actually play in his team’s upcoming match-up against Ohio State, but Penn State’s run game was fine without him.

Wide Receivers: C+

KJ Hamler finished Saturday’s game with two receptions for a team-leading 52 yards despite not playing more than a quarter. Penn State’s passing game was a bit off throughout the day — mainly due to some missed passes by Clifford. However, the team was slightly better in terms of spreading the rock around.

Mac Hippenhammer made his first catch of the season for a gain of 15 yards, and Jahan Dotson came up with two grabs for 30 yards on four targets. Those players and the four tight ends/running backs who made receptions combined for 11 grabs for 179 yards.

Dan Chisena got his first career start at the position typically occupied by Justin Shorter, who played in a back-up role, but beyond that, Penn State’s passing game was a bit off on Saturday.

Tight Ends: A-

Pat Freiermuth and Nick Bowers combined for three receptions, 44 yards, and a 10-yard score to Bowers, but the duo earned a high grade thanks to its excellent performance in run-blocking situations.

Penn State ran its 12-personnel package quite a bit throughout the game — particularly on the game-sealing 18-play drive in the fourth quarter. The duo was critical in helping pave the way for Journey Brown, Sean Clifford, and Will Levis on rushing plays, which helped the Nittany Lions kill nine minutes off the clock and seal the victory.

Although the unit was great on the field, its biggest accomplishment was perhaps making James Franklin say the f-word to describe his team’s second tight end in that 12-personnel package.

“It’s essentially a fullback. That’s what it is,” Franklin said. “It is a fullback that you can use as a lead blocker and as a second puller in your counter game. We also have the ability to line up and play those guys like wide receivers.”

Offensive Line: A-

Rasheed Walker got burned by James Head Jr. on his strip sack of Sean Clifford, but that and two other sacks were the offensive line’s only blemishes against the Hoosiers.

Penn State’s offensive line has been a well-documented weakness in the past, but those days seem like distant history now. The unit has been phenomenal in recent weeks, and it’s given Sean Clifford time to go through his progressions and make smart reads.

The unit also paved the way for Penn State’s rushing attack to dot up Indiana’s front seven for 192 yards and three scores. The Hoosiers did post five tackles for a loss of yardage, but the Nittany Lions seemed to make just as many chunk plays and four-to-six-yard gains that keep the offense on schedule.

Penn State’s offensive line will undoubtedly face its toughest test of the season against Chase Young and Ohio State’s defensive line, but if the past few weeks are any indication, the unit has the ability to limit the Buckeyes’ impact up front.

Defensive Line: C-

Sean Spencer’s Wild Dogs haven’t been all that impressive in recent weeks, and that was on display once again.

The unit improved on its tough performance against Minnesota — as evidenced by Shaka Toney and Yetur Gross-Matos’ sacks. However, those players only got to Peyton Ramsey once each, and they were the only two Wild Dogs to register sacks in the game.

Robert Windsor had a decent game with four total tackles, and Antonio Shelton was mostly ineffective by making one tackle in his return from suspension. That one stop, however, was an assisted tackle-for-loss with Garrett Taylor.

PJ Mustipher, Jayson Oweh, and Fred Hansard each made one tackle, but the Wild Dogs’ performance will have to be better against Ohio State this weekend.

Linebackers: B

Micah Parsons is a total stud, and he finished this weekend’s game with seven tackles and a strip sack that was eventually recovered by the Hoosiers. The sophomore also broke up a pass and bundled Peyton Ramsey after exploding off the edge and into his pocket.

Elsewhere, Cam Brown played well once again with six tackles, and Jan Johnson came up with a special-teams fumble recovery and six stops of his own. There’s a reason why Penn State has stuck with its starting trio of linebackers all year, and the trio has been in great form recently.

Ellis Brooks had a solid game as Johnson’s back-up at middle linebacker with three tackles, and he helped Marquis Wilson force a fumble early in the second quarter. Jesse Luketa also made three stops at outside linebacker.

It might be easy for a program that dubs itself #LinebackerU to take good, consistent linebacker play for granted, but Penn State’s group of linebackers have quietly put together an excellent season for Brent Pry’s defense.

Secondary: D+

Penn State’s secondary made a few big plays — including Marquis Wilson’s first career forced fumble and his subsequent recovery — but the unit got torched once again.

Peyton Ramsey completed 31 of his 41 pass attempts for 379 yards and a touchdown. He’s the fifth quarterback to post more than 275 passing yards against Penn State and the second consecutive signal-caller to throw for more than 300 yards against the Nittany Lions.

Ty Fryfogle was completely unguarded on his first-quarter touchdown grab, and Penn State’s secondary once again failed to effectively neutralize screen passes for most of the game. John Reid was the only Penn State defensive back to receive credit for a pass break-up, and he made three tackles.

Tariq Castro-Fields led the Nittany Lions with eight tackles, and Lamont Wade and Garrett Taylor combined for 13 stops. However, the secondary need to improve in terms of coverage in order for Penn State to fulfill any of its postseason aspirations.

Special Teams: A-

Some football fans may take good placekickers for granted, but Jake Pinegar has been automatic for the Nittany Lions. He drilled a pair of field goals from 47 and 27 yards out while converting all four of his extra point attempts.

Jordan Stout was back to his usual annihilation of footballs on kickoffs, and Blake Gillikin pinned Indiana inside its own 20-yard line on two of his three punts, and he booted another kick more than 50 yards.

One of Gillikin’s punts was muffed and quickly pounced on by a host of Nittany Lions. Jan Johnson was credited with the fumble recovery, but he had the support of four or five teammates swarming down the field as part of Penn State’s spectacular coverage team.

KJ Hamler wasn’t too effective in Penn State’s return game before exiting due to injury. He totaled 60 yards on three kick returns, and the Nittany Lions’ punt returners didn’t register a single return.

Coaching: A-

Penn State’s 18-play, 75-yard drive that chewed up 9:01 of the fourth quarter was a masterful display of execution and coaching.

The Nittany Lions needed a long drive to end in a touchdown after Indiana recaptured some momentum and pulled itself within three points early in the fourth, and they got exactly what the doctor ordered. The coaching staff kept things relatively simple — even with Will Levis’ exotic package — and played to the team’s strengths and Indiana’s weaknesses.

Keeping the two-tight end sets on the field was an excellent choice, and it helped pave the way for Penn State’s methodical drive. James Franklin and co. haven’t always been the best at clock management, but literally taking up nine minutes of the fourth quarter is clearly the opposite of bad clock management.