Penn State’s Post-Wisconsin Report Card

Samuel Brungo | Onward State

In its first season opener against a ranked team since 2001, No. 19 Penn State football gutted out a victory over No. 12 Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Saturday’s battle was a pure Big Ten battle through and through, as neither team could even manage a score in the first half. Considering Mike Yurcich’s offense picked up just 43 yards and one first down in the first half, it was hardly a perfect day for the Nittany Lions. However, Penn State’s several clutch defensive stands ended up being the highlights of the day, along with a couple of timely second-half scores.

With that, here are our grades for Penn State’s season-opening victory:

Quarterback: B-

Sean Clifford’s performance was hardly perfect on Saturday. The redshirt senior struggled to lead any sort of offensive production in the first half, but that can’t all be on him. Clifford’s targets struggled to find open space early, while the signal-caller wasn’t given much time in the pocket against a hungry defensive line.

However, as James Franklin noted in his postgame presser, the veteran quarterback did what was needed of him to help Penn State get the win. That was most obvious in the Nittany Lions’ opening drive of the second half, as Clifford capitalized on halftime adjustments by leading a four-play, 86-yard scoring drive that took just 55 seconds.

Clifford completed his first three passes on quick screens to Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith and capped things off by hitting Jahan Dotson in stride for a 49-yard bomb.

https://twitter.com/H55ZY/status/1434521734573699081?s=20

Other big second-half completions for Clifford included a 52-yard connection to Lambert-Smith that set Penn State up in the red zone, another deep bomb to Dotson, and check-downs to Noah Cain while under duress.

Oh, by the way, the third-year starter finished his afternoon with 247 passing yards and no turnovers. Considering he threw an interception in all but three games last season, a responsible, efficient day in the pocket is a welcomed sight for Penn State.

Running Backs: C

Outside of several key plays from Noah Cain late, Penn State’s running backs were largely a non-factor against the Badgers.

Franklin mentioned Saturday that he’d like to see his rushers get downhill quicker rather than going east-west, and that was almost certainly in regards to Keyvone Lee. The sophomore stud put up -4 yards on three attempts, and while he managed to break a few tackles in the backfield, he’d cut back even further and set the Nittany Lions back on multiple occasions.

Devyn Ford was the only other rusher on the stat sheet, as he gained just one yard on one attempt.

However, it’s important to note Cain’s effectiveness late in the game. The junior looked solid in his return from last year’s injury, as he set the Nittany Lions up on the goal line by breaking tackles and making plays on screen passes. Of course, he punched in the eventual winning score for the Nittany Lions late in the fourth quarter.

The Louisiana native finished his afternoon with 48 rushes on eight yards, along with 27 yards through the air.

Caziah Holmes didn’t see any carries on Saturday, and John Lovett didn’t travel with the team.

Wide Receivers: B+

To little surprise, senior wideout Jahan Dotson carried Penn State’s offensive production for much of the day. The Nazareth, Pennsylvania native finished the win with a team-leading five receptions worth 102 yards, and obviously had the long touchdown to open the second half for the Nittany Lions.

Dotson also had a 42-yard grab in the fourth that helped set up Noah Cain’s score.

Outside of Dotson, Parker Washington and KeAndre Lambert-Smith were each targeted six times by Clifford. Lamber-Smith had the big 52-yard grab, while Washington produced one of the only positive offensive plays of the first half with a 24-yard catch and run.

The pair both added value by picking up quick yards on screen passes, as well. Despite that production and Dotson’s big day, however, it wasn’t a consistent enough offensive performance for the wide receivers to get into the A range.

Tight Ends: C

Brenton Strange and Theo Johnson were on the field at the same time on several occasions Saturday, but neither finished with a catch.

It wasn’t necessarily a “bad” day for either of the Nittany Lions’ big pass-catchers, but they didn’t do much of anything to stand out. Neither had any egregious errors in the blocking scheme, but Strange did have a drop in the red zone that would’ve pushed Penn State to Wisconsin’s goal line.

Don’t expect the tight ends to be this silent on offense going forward. Franklin described the group as “the best [he’s] been around” as a coach.

Offensive Line: C

Up until some powerful Cain runs let in the second half, Penn State’s rushing attack was non-existent for much of the game. Wisconsin’s defensive front seven is impressive, and the Nittany Lions’ rushers weren’t necessarily making the best decisions all day, but a lot of that blame has to fall on the offensive line.

Clifford got sacked twice, and there were also several occasions where he had to scramble out of the pocket and then didn’t have the chance to get a down-field read.

To be fair to the group, there were several starters at new positions, notably Mike Miranda in his first start at center and Juice Scruggs at right guard, along with Anthony Whigan and Caedan Wallace. The group did just enough to protect Clifford and get some sort of run game going, but it wasn’t a consistent enough day for it to receive a grade any higher than a C.

Defensive Line: A-

Penn State’s defensive line is being rightfully criticized for allowing 180 rushing yards to the Badgers, 121 of which came from Chez Mellusi, but the group made a massive difference with the amount of pressure it got on Graham Mertz.

The Nittany Lions finished the day with two sacks and two hurries on the books, but Mertz had to scramble out of the pocket and throw the ball away on multiple occasions. Arnold Ebiketie and PJ Mustipher both had seven tackles, while the first of the pair also stood out with a sack, two tackles for a loss, and a near forced fumble.

Jesse Luketa also added some serious value in his first game as a defensive end/linebacker hybrid, as he grabbed five tackles and a key hurry on Mertz.

Thanks in large part to that pressure and Penn State’s strong secondary play, the Wisconsin quarterback only got 185 passing yards.

Linebackers: B+

In their first game as a starting trio, Ellis Brooks, Curtis Jacobs, and Brandon Smith each had strong performances. Brooks led the defense with 11 total tackles and added a sack, while Smith had eight tackles and Jacobs had five.

Brooks stood out at middle linebacker throughout the day, until he was knocked out of the game due to a targeting penalty on a hit on Mertz. Luketa shifted back to linebacker after the ejection, however, and filled in seamlessly for Brooks.

Linebacker play was solid overall Saturday, but the group gets bumped down one grade due to some of the struggles in rush defense. Even when Brent Pry filled up the box, Chez Mellusi managed to have his way with the Nittany Lions’ defense on multiple occasions.

Even during Penn State’s struggles last season, linebacker play always seemed to be a strength. With so much returning experience and talent, expect a similar story for much of this 2021 campaign.

Secondary: A

What more can you say about Penn State’s secondary? Jaquan Brisker and Ji’Ayir Brown each had clutch interceptions down the wire, while Joey Porter Jr. had. a clutch pass breakup just before that to help the Nittany Lions escape Camp Randall victorious.

Big time play by Joey Porter Jr. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/QkKPLZOaAb
— That Blitz Guy (@ThatBlitzGuy) September 4, 2021

It has to be noted that Wisconsin wide receiver Danny Davis had a day worth eight catches and 99 yards, and tight end Jake Ferguson had nine grabs. However, it’s a credit to Penn State’s secondary that it battled through a couple of big downfield plays and buckled down in the red zone.

Brisker and Brown both battled through injury throughout the day and were constants on the back end, while Porter and Tariq Castro-Fields largely limited any big plays through the air. Jonathan Sutherland also added seven tackles while rotating it throughout the afternoon.

Special Teams: C

Jordan Stout attempted seven punts on the day and averaged a fantastic 53.9 yards on his boots. Punt coverage was also great for the Nittany Lions, despite the questionable penalty called on AJ Lytton.

That’s all of the good news, but Penn State simply can’t afford to miss an extra point and a 23-yard field goal. Stout’s ugly misses both came in the second half and could’ve played a much larger role had the Nittany Lions’ defense not come up huge on multiple occasions.

The other interesting facet of Stout’s misses is that those would’ve both been Jake Pinegar attempts in 2020. Last season, Pinegar attempted all field goals inside of approximately 42 yards, while everything outside belonged to Stout. After Stout’s short-range struggles, we’ll see if the Nittany Lions return to a similar game plan for the home opener against Ball State this Saturday.

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About the Author

Will Pegler

Will is a senior majoring in digital and print journalism and is an associate editor for Onward State. He is from Darien, Connecticut and is a lifelong Penn State football fan. He loves a good 80's comedy movie, Peaky Blinders, The Office, and the New York Yankees and Giants. You can catch some of his ridiculous sports takes on his Twitter @gritdude and yell at him on his email [email protected]

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