TaxSlayer Bowl 2016: Game Grades, Analysis for Penn State vs. Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions, 24-17, in the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida. The final box score can be found here, thanks to NCAA.com.

Interim head coach Bryan McClendon was strong in his debut as the Bulldogs were able to make plays on offense, defense and special teams. They looked like a team that wanted to win their fifth consecutive game.

Penn State, on the other hand, played hard, but they did not have the talent and the experience to hang with the Bulldogs for four quarters. Under head coach James Franklin, the Nittany Lions will continue to grow and be a better football program.

Here are game grades for the Nittany Lions and the Bulldogs.

Positional Unit	1st Half	Final Grade
Passing Offense	C	B+
Rushing Offense	C-	C
Passing Defense	C+	B
Rushing Defense	c-	D
Special Teams	D	D
Coaching	C	B

Passing Offense

Before quarterback Christian Hackenberg went down with a shoulder injury, he struggled to get anything going in the passing game. He finished completing eight of his 14 passes for 139 yards and one interception. When backup Trace McSorley came into the game, the Nittany Lions found new life, and they almost pulled off the upset. McSorley finished with 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Despite the loss, the Nittany Lions threw for 281 yards against the No. 1 passing defense in the country. They can build on that for next season.

Rushing Offense

Penn State finished with 120 yards on the ground, and those yards were not easy to come by. Saquon Barkley had 69 rushing yards, while McSorley had 31. Barkley had a few big runs, but for the most part, he was getting hit at the line of scrimmage as soon as he got the ball. That was a big reason why Penn State lost on Saturday.

Passing Defense

The Bulldogs are not a great passing offense team, but Penn State did give up a couple of big passing plays that turned out to be costly, specifically in the first half. They were able to tighten things up in the second half, as they put pressure on Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert and got tighter on coverage.

Rushing Defense

That was another reason the Nittany Lions fell short. They had a hard time containing running backs Keith Marshall and Sony Michel, especially in the second half as both players were able to grind out some yards to burn the clock as much as possible. Penn State allowed 166 yards on the ground.

Special Teams

There were two plays that stood out on special teams on Penn State. The first is the failed fake punt the Nittany Lions attempted at midfield in the first half. The other is an Isaiah McKenzie punt return that went 37 yards in the third quarter. It was not a terrible day for Penn State on special teams, but those two plays almost could have been disastrous had the Bulldogs been able to convert those into points.

Coaching

It looked like the Bulldogs were going to run away with the game in the second half. But Coach Franklin was able to get his players on the same wavelength in the second half, and that led to them outplaying the Bulldogs in the fourth quarter. Franklin has a young team, and this game is something they can build on moving forward. If they can learn from their mistakes, Franklin can have his team a Big Ten contender sooner than later.

Positional Unit	1st Half	Final Grade
Passing Offense	C	D
Rushing Offense	B	B+
Passing Defense	B	D
Rushing Defense	B	B
Special Teams	B	B-
Coaching	A	B+

Passing Offense

Once again, the passing offense for Georgia struggled. Lambert only completed 50 percent of his passes, and he was sacked twice. However, he did have some big throws in the second half, and the play of the game for the Bulldogs came in the second quarter when wide receiver Terry Godwin threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to wideout Malcolm Mitchell.

Rushing Offense

While the passing offense struggled at times, the run game was strong for the most part. Michel and Marshall got some tough yards, which were needed because if both players got shut down, the Bulldogs would have lost on Saturday. It was good to see Marshall have a strong game because he has been through the ringer the last couple of seasons.

Passing Defense

The Bulldogs secondary has seen better days, but they did have some good plays as well. Safety Dominick Sanders notched his sixth interception of the year, and cornerback Aaron Davis had a nice pass breakup in the second quarter. But the Bulldogs allowed nearly 300 passing yards against Penn State, which is well past their average of 140 passing yards allowed per game.

Rushing Defense

Credit has to go to linebackers Jake Ganus and Leonard Floyd for not letting Penn State run over the Bulldogs. Both players combined for 12 tackles, and they were all over the field on Saturday. The Bulldogs allowed 120 rushing yards on Saturday, which is below their season average of 151 yards per game.

Special Teams

Because of kicker Marshall Morgan's injury, punter Collin Barber had to take over the kicking duties, and he missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt. That led to the coaching staff not letting him try for a short field goal late in the game that would have put the Bulldogs up by 10 with less than two minutes remaining. But McKenzie had a big return, and they prevented a successful fake punt by Penn State. So it was a solid effort by the Bulldogs special teams.

Coaching

Coach McClendon was solid in his debut. The Bulldogs faltered toward the end of the game, and he did not make the right decision of kicking a field goal in the Bulldogs' final possession. But the players played hard for him, and that led to the Bulldogs winning their 10th game of the year. Now the Kirby Smart era begins in Athens, who was in attendance on Saturday.