Penn State held on to beat Pitt 17-10 in a game that certainly wasn’t boring, but wasn’t short on moments of ugly football either. The Nittany Lions now head into the bye week at 3-0 with a road trip to Maryland on the schedule next. There are thing for this group to work on in the coming weeks, but for now a win is a win.
Here are the grades following the 100th meeting between Penn State and Pitt.
Offense: C
Penn State’s offense scored 17 points, which was good enough to win and that counts for something. Equally true, a 4-of-13 mark on third down won’t cut it against a better team. The Nittany Lions felt like boom or bust in the passing game, averaging 15.9 yards a reception while Sean Clifford managed to complete just 14 of his 30 passes, his deep ball a little all over the place. Justin Shorter had two catches on his two targets but continues to feel underutilized. Speaking of which, Pat Freiermuth had zero targets in the second half and Noah Cain never saw the field again after pounding the ball during a long scoring drive.
Over 200 yards receiving and nearly 200 yards on the ground is hard to complain about, but this offense can’t yet execute on a consistent basis. It had a chance to close out the game and couldn’t, and that could have cost them the game if not for Pitt’s missed field goal and inability to score the tying touchdown on the final drive of the afternoon.
A final thought: If not for Stout’s long field goal, Penn State only made good on one explosive play in the first half. The Nittany Lions probably could have headed to the locker room ahead and settled for a tie. Same could have been said for a few losses over the past few seasons.
This group gets a B for its stats and the fact that it won, but the group at large has things to work on during the bye week so it’s knocked down a peg.
Defense: B
Giving up 10 points is hard to argue with, but the chunk plays and 396 yards of offense will come with a much higher price against better teams. Pitt managed to convert 5 of its 16 third downs but held on to the ball for nearly 12 minutes in the second quarter. This defense is getting the job done when it has to, but it feels like it has at least one long drive a game that it can’t get off the field. That might not matter as much against Pitt, but in the long and taxing games against Big Ten teams, that’s the difference between being fresh or tired late in the game.
Micah Parsons was outstanding and John Reid was solid. This entire unit has to figure out its pass rushing situation because so far Yetur Gross-Matos hasn’t been a factor and Shaka Toney has gotten close, but not quite connected on a few sack chances.
Pitt also only had 24 yards on the ground, which is worth something.
You can’t knock this group for the final result, but it’s fair to wonder if the equation will hold up against the B1G boys.
Special Teams: A
Jordan Stout’s 57-yard field goal coupled with six punts inside the 20 by Blake Gillikin topped off a solid day for this bunch. KJ Hamler didn’t have many chances for returns and that’s not really his fault. The biggest thing for this unit was the need to be a net positive for Penn State each week, and so far it has been. The big plays will come, but right now the ability to avoid the big mistake is just as huge.
And 57-yards, wow.
Overall: B
Penn State won, again, and there is something to be said for that. This team is more or less what we thought it would be at this point of the year: young, inexperienced and prone to bouts of inconsistency. The question really isn’t what this team is right now, but what team it well be in a month or two. For what this team is in mid September, winning is worth a solid grade.
