So, how does one try to grade a game where the final result was fairly comfortable, but the beginning was shaky? Let’s find out!
Quarterback: B+
Rocco Becht got off to a rough start, completing only 1 of his first 4 passes (with that one being a beautiful 56-yard bomb to Koby Howard) and seemed to lack the proper touch on his passes and field awareness. However, once he settled down, he went on to complete 20 of his final 23 attempts, including three touchdowns, as PSU strung together five consecutive scoring drives after coming up with nothing on their first three drives.
Running Back: C+
Carson Hansen got the bulk of the carries this time, picking up 84 yards on 19 rushes. James Peoples also picked up 42 yards on seven carries, and did his best Saquon Barkley impression in the process by hurdling a guy. Cam Wallace even got a touch, but somehow Quinton Martin got zero snaps. Perhaps Martin is banged up or dealing with some other issue, but how he failed to see the field at all after looking like the most complete back out there last week was baffling. I understand why the coaching staff favors Hansen so much, given he’s a tough runner who falls forward, but the rushing attack could use a little more explosiveness, even if it has been reasonably efficinet.
Wide Receiver: B
Howard was mostly quiet the rest of the game after his initial big catch, but did catch a couple more balls to finish with 68 yards on three catches. Meanwhile, Chase Sowell stepped up, catching five passes for 55 yards, including a screen pass on a critical 3rd down inside the red zone to boost Penn State’ s lead to 17-3 in the third quarter and allow the Nittany Lions to start pulling away in this game. Zay Robinson also had a brilliant catch on 3rd and 15 that ultimately led to another scoring drive to put the Nittany Lions up 20-3.
Tight End: A–
You’re going to be hearing Ben Brahmer’s name quite a bit this season, and for good reason: Brahmer had a critical, momentum-shifting TD catch with eight seconds to go in the first half and the game tied at three apiece. He also caught the game-sealing TD in the fourth quarter to put PSU up 27-3, en route to a team-high five catches for 79 yards. His uncharacteristic drop on a beautifully-run RPO could have cost PSU a TD but thankfully, Sowell scored on the very next play.
Offensive Line: B
The run blocking left a little more to be desired, but the pass blocking was pretty solid, allowing Becht time to scan the field and find his open receiver.
Defensive Line: B-
Yvan Kemajou had PSU’s lone sack of the day, as the Nittany Lions were able to get a pass rush going to force Temple QB’s Jaxon Smolik and Ajani Sheppard to have to scramble away from trouble. Unfortunately, they didn’t do the best job of getting home, as Smolik especially was able to escape and burn the defense with a few big runs, including a 47-yarder that helped set up a field goal in the first half. Considering Temple was missing a few offensive line starters, the D-line didn’t dominate the way we hoped.
Linebacker: B
Tony Rojas once again was the team’s top tackler, racking up seven of them. He also had a great interception on Temple’s opening drive in the Owls’ own red zone that absolutely should have been cashed in by the offense for six points. There were some missed tackles in the early going that allowed Temple to extend drives, but this unit started to clamp down in the second half.
Secondary: A-
Temple only managed 107 passing yards in this game and that’s due in part to some excellent coverage from the secondary. Audavion Collins had multiple pass breakups and this unit as a whole did a tremendous job of getting physical on Temple’s receivers without drawing holding or pass interference penalties.
Special Teams: B+
Ryan Barker had a very uncharacteristic shank on what’s normally a money distance for him (32 yards). However, he did nail his other two field goals, so I’m not worried about him. Nathan Tiyce once again pinned the Owls deep near their own end zone, while Zay Robinson had a nice 19-yard punt return that had PSU starting from Temple territory (which unfortunately, they couldn’t cash in on), and Daryus Dixson got a piece of Temple’s field goal attempt in the third quarter that caused it to fall several yards short of the uprights.
Coaching: B
Props to the staff for making proper adjustments and not panicking when things weren’t go so great early on. At the end of the day, the Nittany Lions ended up taking care of business against an overmatched opponent. That being said, D’Anton Lynn is going to need to figure out how to better contain running QB’s and Taylor Mouser might want to start realizing that his team’s strength is Rocco slinging the rock to his bevy of wideouts and tight ends and not trying to be a power running team. Some of these issues I imagine can be cleaned up without too much trouble.
Also, was anyone else screaming at the TV for Matt Campbell to burn a freaking timeout right before that TD pass to Brahmer? I imagine that scoring drive is going to show up on the r/nonononoyes subreddit anytime now.
(BONUS CATEGORY) The Traveling Fan Base: A
Shout-out to Nittany Nation for making its presence felt inside Lincoln Financial Field, as they seemingly outnumbered the Temple fans in attendance. The Blue Band also made the trip, which was a nice treat.
