Penn State Football: Grading the Nittany Lion's Game vs Eastern Michigan

Penn State's offense seemed to come alive a little bit against Eastern Michigan after a couple of tough, physical match-ups with Alabama and Temple. The win came at a price, with the loss of linebacker Michael Mauti suffering an ACL injury, with an MRI scheduled for Sunday.

Continue reading for this week's report card for the Nittany Lions.

Previous Report Cards

• Week 1: Indiana State
• Week 2: Alabama
• Week 3: Temple

Quarterbacks

Heading in to the weekend, Penn State was one of six teams at the FBS level, and just one of two from an AQ conference, to be on the pursuit of their first touchdown pass of the season. While the coaching staff once again played both Rob Bolden and Matt McGloin, against Eastern Michigan, the passing game was in full flight.

McGloin and Bolden combined for four touchdown passes, with McGloin leading the day with three touchdown strikes. Bolden was responsible for the lone interception on the day, but the quarterbacks (including Shane McGregor and Garrett Venuto combined for 364 yards through the air.

"I think they both played well," Joe Paterno said of the play of Bolden and McGloin. "I think they threw the ball well. I thought they did some things well. [Eastern Michigan] took the run away from us. We got in the ball game with the idea that we were going to have to beat an eight-man front most of the day and we're going to have to get the ball down field. So, I think the kids did a good job. They handled the team well, got a little better. We're not where I'd like us to be yet. A lot of that really has nothing to do with the two [quarterbacks]."

Running Backs

On a day where the passing game finally took the pressure off the running game, the numbers of players like Silas Redd failed to look impressive. Penn State averaged 4.2 yards per rushing attempt and gained just 110 yards on 25 rushing attempts. But the running game was not a real big problem in this game, as the passing game was taking care of business and covering big chunks of the field.

Redd had 51 yards on 12 carries. Afterward, Redd said, "I was happy to have those guys get going and establish the passing game. We want to show everyone that we are not something to mess with when we throw the ball too."

Wide Receivers

The quarterbacks having a good day could not have been done without the play of the wide receivers, who accounted for the majority of the 364 receiving yards in the game. Derek Moye lead all receivers with six receptions, and Devon Smith's 71-yard scoring play was the highlight of the day for the receivers.

Receivers were able to hold on to the football with regularity against Eastern Michigan and found room in the open field to set themselves up for the pass from the quarterbacks.

Moye also eclipsed the 2,000 receiving yard mark during the game.

"I feel honored to be on the list," Moye said afterward. "At the same time, I'm just worried about trying to get wins and trying to improve our offense this season."

Offensive Line

Penn State's quarterbacks finally had some decent pass protection to give them time to find open receivers all over the field. That is a credit to the offensive line, which has seen pass protection be a major weakness in the first three games of the season.

The offense put together 468 yards of offense, but there is still room for improvement on all fronts. Considering the level of competition faced, we'll give the offensive line a solid "B" this week.

Defensive Line

Devon Still once again fueled a strong showing by the Penn State defensive line. Still and Jack Crawford each recorded five tackles on the day, and the Eastern Michigan rushing offense was held to 68 yards after being the primary focus for the Eagles three first three weeks. The defense also came up with three sacks, two from the defensive line with Crawford and Eric Lattimore getting the credit.

Linebackers

The loss of Michael Mauti is a severe blow, but the linebackers played pretty well on Saturday, with Nate Stupar stepping up in Mauti's absence. Stupar led all defenders with seven tackles, including one of the team's sacks. Khairi Fortt chipped in with six tackles, including 1.5 for a loss, and Glenn Carson added five tackles on the day.

We'll see what happens with the position with Mauti out of the mix, but overall, the linebackers should be in decent position moving forward despite the loss of Mauti.

Defensive Backs

Nick Sukay had some good hits while racking up six totals against Eastern Michigan, second most on the team. Stephfon Morris and Drew Astorino each recorded five tackles, and Sukay recorded the only interception in the game.

The secondary helped to make sure that Eastern Michigan failed to score a touchdown pass and held the Eagles to 202 yards, but at times, there were some slips in coverage. Against the Eagles, mistakes were easier to overcome, but coverage will have tighten up a bit against conference opponents moving forward.

D'Anton Lynn was taken off the field on a stretcher and cart and taken to the hospital as a precaution following a scary hit that left the back laying face down on the turf without much motion while the play continued. Lynn was reported to have feeling in his lower extremities, relieving the tension on the anniversary of Adam Taliaferro's crippling hit against Ohio State.

Coaching

The offense started slowly but picked up the pace later in the first half. The quarterback decision still needs to be made, so until then, the coaching staff as a whole will be held back form getting a solid "A."

The passing game got the job done, and the defensive coaches had the right game plan to breeze through this match-up with Eastern Michigan. The offense probably won't be able to afford another slow start in conference play, although Indiana may be one more game where mistakes will be able to be overcome with relative ease.

Kevin McGuire is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or via official interview materials from Penn State University. McGuire is the national college football writer for Examiner.com. Follow his college football discussion on Google+ and Twitter. Become a fan of him on Facebook.