Akron vs. Penn State: Game Grades, Analysis for the Nittany Lions

James Franklin and the Penn State Nittany Lions secured their second victory of the season Saturday afternoon, beating the Akron Zips 21-3 in their home opener.

The game was as sloppy as the score would indicate. Penn State turned the ball over three times and struggled through long lapses of offensive inefficiency. 

But on an afternoon when the Big Ten struggled—Nebraska was nearly upset by McNeese State, Illinois barely outlasted Western Kentucky and Purdue got bulldozed by Central Michigan—Penn State can take comfort in their 18-point victory.

Here's how the Nittany Lions graded out against the Zips.

Positional Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	C	B-
Run Offense	F	C-
Pass Defense	B	A
Run Defense	A	A
Special Teams	B	B
Coaching	C	C

Penn State Nittany Lions Grade Analysis

Pass Offense: Penn State's pass offense can almost be considered its only offense at this point. Christian Hackenberg showed why he's considered one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country, completing 61 percent of his passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns. Five consecutive incompletions in the first half and two costly interceptions in the red zone prevented the pass offense from grading out better, though.

Run Offense: Penn State's offensive line struggled to open lanes for a trio of decent running backs in Zach Zwinak, Bill Belton and Akeel Lynch. That's certainly concerning for the Nittany Lions, who were going up against an overmatched Akron defense. Penn State found some decent success in the second half, gaining 85 of its 108 rushing yards running primarily out of the wildcat formation.

Pass Defense: It looked like it was going to be a long day for the Penn State secondary early, when Akron quarterback Kyle Pohl completed his first four passes for 56 yards. Led by outstanding cornerback Jordan Lucas, the Nittany Lions only gave up 152 passing yards after Akron's opening drive. The Zips failed to complete a single pass over 25 yards.

Run Defense: Just like the passing game, Akron had a very hard time running against Penn State's active defensive front. The Zips only gained 69 yards from 25 carries, averaging just 2.8 yards per rush. More than a third of those yards came on a pair of 13-yard runs from Jawon Chisholm and Hakeem Lawrence.

Special Teams: It was a quiet day on special teams for the Nittany Lions, which is both good and bad. Penn State's coverage units were excellent and Kicker Sam Ficken was a perfect 3-of-3 on extra point attempts. With the offense struggling, though, the Nittany Lions could have used some impact plays in the return game.

Coaching: Continuing a trend that developed against UCF last week, James Franklin and the Penn State coaching staff made some mystifying time-management decisions throughout the game. The Nittany Lions misused some timeouts early and wasted a couple throughout the game. It took Franklin a bit too long to utilize the wildcat as well, but once he did, it proved to be a nice adjustment. The coaching staff will want to tighten things up before Big Ten play kicks off in a few weeks.

All stats via NCAA.com.