2012 TicketCity Bowl: Grading Penn State's Loss Against Houston

Penn State was defeated by Houston, 30-14, in the TicketCity Bowl on January 2nd.

The game featured typical Penn State play minus the solid defense aspect, and a few throws by Houston quarterback Case Keenum.

All in all, Penn State struggled mightily from the get-go. The Nittany Lions went down early, and could not overcome the deficit because of the ineptitude of Rob Bolden behind center.

Grades are not high for the Nittany Lions in any area. Penn State got handled, plain and simple.

Time to go back to school Penn State, here are your grades for the TicketCity Bowl.

Offense

Penn State had 306 total yards against Houston. The passing attack accounted for 137 of those yards and the ground game racked up 169 yards.

The Nittany Lions failed to get into a rhythm because of Rob Bolden's inability to make simple throws. Bolden threw three interceptions and failed to make several short throws to open receivers.

Stephfon Green gained 63 yards on the ground, but the Nittany Lion ground game was not consistent because of a stacked Cougar defensive box.

Penn State needed to pass first in order to pull Cougar defenders off the line of scrimmage. However, Bolden hindered that process because of his lack of touch and erratic decision-making.

Grade: D

Defense

Penn State's defense held the Cougar offense to 30 points. The Cougar offense averaged 51 points per game during the regular season.

Holding Houston to 30 points is a minor victory. However, Penn State missed many tackles in the open field and failed to throw off Case Keenum's timing.

Houston racked up 600 total yards, 532 of which were through the air. The Cougars averaged almost eight yards per completion.

If the Cougars didn't drop a few key passes, the score could have been more lopsided. Considering Penn State's defensive success this season, this was a very disappointing performance.

Grade: C-

Special Teams

Penn State's special teams had a busy but uneventful day in Dallas.

Anthony Fera didn't make any field goals but did hit both of his extra point attempts. He averaged 41.6 yards per punt over the course of nine attempts.

Chaz Powell didn't have an impact in the kick return game, but Justin Brown came inches away from breaking a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown. Brown stepped on the sideline multiple times and the touchdown was overturned.

The Nittany Lion special teams did their job, but their contributions were irrelevant.

Grade: B

Coaching

Penn State's coaching staff was stuck between a rock and a hard place against the Cougars.

Offensively, Penn State should have leaned on the passing attack until the Cougar defense started pulling players off of the line of scrimmage.

Rob Bolden made that tough though. He couldn't make the simplest of throws and rendered the Penn State offense into a one-dimensional tragedy.

Defensively, the Nittany Lions had a choice against Case Keenum. Either rush four and drop seven players into coverage, or bring the house and hope to disrupt Keenum's timing.

Neither seemed to work. Penn State's defensive line could not generate pressure on their own, and the Nittany Lion defenders couldn't jam the Cougar receivers off the line. This allowed Keenum to find his rhythm on the majority of his possessions.

Penn State's coaches could have done a better job, but their players didn't give them much help.

Grade: C

Overall

There isn't much Penn State can take from this game.

The Nittany Lions were passed over by four better bowl matchups, but they looked out of their league in this game anyway.

Penn State's offense failed to find it's rhythm because of poor quarterback play. Rob Bolden seemed lost at times, and his seven completions showcased that. He struggled to throw anything but a deep ball.

The Nittany Lions pride themselves on their defense, but Case Keenum proved his season's successes were not a fluke. Keenum sat in the pocket and picked apart the Nittany Lion secondary.

Penn State would have loved to end their roller-coaster season on a high note. Houston had a different idea, and that didn't wind up being the case. No pun intended.

Grade: A generous C-