Penn State Football: Grading the Nittany Lions' Game vs Purdue

Was Penn State pretty in Saturday's win against Purdue? No, but they never lost the lead and the defense came through in the clutch on a day on which they admit they were not playing to their usual standards. The offense failed to score a touchdown through the air, but Silas Redd helped ease the pain with another 100-yard day on the ground and a touchdown.

The linebackers picked up the slack for the defensive line on a day that showed that Penn State cannot afford to have a sub-par day if they want to reach the ultimate goal of a Big Ten championship, but they have players that will not quit and are committed to finishing the game.

Here is a look at each position on Saturday and their respective grade for their performance. Later this week, we'll take a one-week late look at their midseason grades as well.

Quarterbacks

It was another round of quarterback indecision, but Matt McGloin is starting to pull away from Rob Bolden in the competition despite putting up mediocre at best numbers. Such is life with Penn State's quarterback situation this season.

Neither quarterback completed half of his passes, and neither threw a touchdown pass. It is starting to turn from maddening to partially comical how inconsistent the quarterbacks have been, and will continue to hold this team back when the tough gets going.

Final Stats

Matt McGloin: 8-17-1, 145 yards, 0 TD

Rob Bolden: 2-6-0, 40 yards, 0 TD

Grade: C

Running Back

The Penn State running game rushed for 182 yards against the Boilermakers, with Silas Redd leading the way with 131 yards for his third straight game with over 100 yards on the ground. Redd said after the game he felt like he was hitting a stride this season with an increased work load.

Curtis Dukes scored the first touchdown of the game and continues to develop as a nice alternative to Redd. Stephfon Green saw a couple plays on the field, but was used primarily as a blocker more than anything, and he executed well as he works his way back in to the offensive mix.

Final Stats

Silas Redd: 28 attempts, 131 yards, 1 TD

Curtis Dukes: 6 attempts, 21 yards

Grade: B+

Wide Receivers

Justin Brown had the catch of the game, with a one-hand grab on a pass that looked to be out of his reach from Matt McGloin. As Brown stretched for the great effort, he atoned for some dropped passes in his past. With Derek Moye unavailable with a foot injury, Brown has become the top target on the field, but the receiving game as a whole still needs to step it up a bit.

There were some other nice plays by the receivers, but overall, there is clearly room to improve. No tight ends caught a pass, and there were some key drops that kept Penn State out of the end zone all around.

Final Stats

Justin Brown: 4 catches, 86 yards

Brandon Moseby-Felder: 2 catches, 40 yards

Devon Smith: 2 catches, 34 yards

Grade: B

Offensive Line

Purdue's defense recorded one sack and just three tackles for a loss in the game, and Penn State's running game was pretty effective, so we'll give the offensive line a decent grade this week.

Grade: B+

Defensive Line

This was not a dominant performance by the defense all around, but when they needed to make big plays in the clutch, the defensive line did just that, if it only meant bringing pressure.

Final Stats

Devon Still: 4 tackles (2 solo), 1.0 tackles for loss

Jordan Hill: 4 tackles (1 solo)

Grade: B-

Linebackers

Since losing Michael Mauti for the season, the rest of the linebackers have upped their game. While the defensive line struggled up front, the linebackers were busy trying to slow down Purdue's offense a little more often than usual, and while a couple plays got by them, it would be hard to argue the linebackers weren't the most dependable unit on the team.

Nate Stupar had two interceptions, and Gerald Hodges led all players with three tackles for a loss. Hodges and Glenn Carson were two of the leading tacklers for Penn State.

Final stats

Gerald Hodges: 8 tackles (all solo), 3.0 tackles for loss

Glenn Carson: 7 tackles (3 solo)

Nate Stupar: 7 tackles (2 solo), 2 Interceptions

Grade: A-

Secondary

D'Anton Lynn returned to the field two weeks after being taken off the field on a stretcher and quickly made his presence felt with seven tackles (second on the team) and three for a loss of yardage.

Purdue's leading receiver was Justin Siller, who finished the day with 67 receiving yards. Fifty of those yards came on one play. Purdue's second leading receiver was Edison, who had 46 yards on three catches. Purdue made some plays, but failed to really expose Penn State's secondary.

Final Stats

Drew Astorino: 8 tackles (6 solo)

D'Anton Lynn: 7 tackles (3 solo)

Nick Sukay: 6 tackles (1 solo), 1 interception

Grade: B+

Coaching

After the game, players and coaches admitted that there was concern about some sort of let down following a big win against Iowa the week before. Penn State took it easier in practices at the beginning of the week, and it showed on the field. Purdue looked to have an extra step on Penn State's normally quick-reacting defense, and the offense looked sluggish at times, including a three-and-out on their first possession of the game.

Grade: C

Overall

Penn State could afford to play at a mediocre level against a team like Purdue, but it should be noted that performances like this will not end in a good way moving forward. Against teams like Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin, Penn State likely will not be able to pull out a win without getting in to the end zone through the air, and the defense certainly cannot afford to have another letdown against more potent offenses in the second half of the season.

But a win is a win, and Penn State rallied to never let their lead slip away, even if it was because of some Purdue errors (missed field goal, missed PAT and failed two-point conversion).

Grade: B-

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