Penn State’s season ended on Saturday and with it a 7-6 campaign is on the books for the rest of time. How long anyone will want to remember it is a different question entirely but for those few fleeting moments when it’s still on your mind, here are the grades following the Nittany Lions’ 24-10 loss to Arkansas.
Offense: C-
Penn State’s offense could have made up for a lot of things on Saturday and instead ended up being its usual inconsistent self, waffling between promising plays and miscues and a running game that never really got going all season long. Parker Washington was a bright spot, pulling down seven catches for 98 yards while KeAndre Lambert-Smith managed three receptions for 74 yards and a long wide open touchdown. Keyvone Lee was also promising with a five carry, 41-yard outing to lead all non Sean Clifford rushers.
Clifford was a mixed bag, extending plays with his legs and making a few nice throws, but missed opportunities and two interceptions really hurt his marks. Officially he finished 14-for-32 for 195 yards an a touchdown but if you were looking for a three-year starter to drag a Jahan Dotson absent offense on his own, Clifford wasn’t that guy on Saturday. Penn State missing out on one of the nation’s premiere pass-catchers counts for something, but this group ostensibly had too much talent for that to be an excuse – especially against a not terribly threatening Arkansas defense.
Penn State finished 6-for-15 on third down, which isn’t terrible but also could have been a lot better. A 1-for-3 mark in the red zone doesn’t help matters any either. Penn State’s offensive line was fine in protection giving up one sack and four tackles for a loss all game. Olu Fashanu was solid at his debut at left tackle and had a performance to build off of moving forward.
In a game that Penn State knew it would need to score points to win in the absence of multiple defensive starters, the Nittany Lions’ offense showed a few flashes but never imposed its will on Arkansas and turned in the same performance it has all year. Hopeful, but often not enough.
Defense: B
Penn State’s defense went into this game without six starters and still managed to hold Arkansas to just seven points through one half of play. The Nittany Lions racked up five sacks and nine tackles for a loss with a makeshift defensive line. There were tackling issues and this group got beat up in the trenches and was generally not quite as physical, but it’s hard to knock a group of guys for playing above what most people expected given the circumstances. Ji’Ayir Brown did a good job leading by example with two interceptions while Curtis Jacobs led the way with 10 tackles. Defensive end Smith Vilbert had three sacks in concert with Nick Tarburton picking up seven tackles. Overall this group did just about all it could and the grade isn’t going to get knocked for backup players not quite being ready to be starters. Arkansas went 4-for-14 on third down and was on the field for just over 36 minutes.
Penn State’s defense *could* have played better, but it also did the same thing it has done all year – keep the Nittany Lions in the game. And this time it did so with a different group of players and Anthony Poindexter calling plays.
Special Teams: C
Nobody really knows what that fake punt – thing – was other than fun to watch, so there’s that. Jake Pinegar missed a 50+ yard field goal but it’s unclear why he was kicking it in the first place since that has never been his forte. Jordan Stout was solid at punting duties as per usual and Parker Washington actually proved to be a decent return man while Johnny Dixon recorded an 18-yard punt return. It’s hard to know who to blame for the miscues here exactly since Penn State’s fake punt was not an execution issue and Pinegar probably shouldn’t have been kicking that field goal in the first place. But hey, if you do bad things somebody has to take the blame so that’s reflected in the grade.
Coaching: C
This grade would be lower if it was a regular season game but if you’re going to try weird things on special teams in a game you’re missing a half dozen starters then you get some points for trying. The issue here is that Penn State’s offense didn’t seem to have a plan that was working and little options for doing anything else. Arkansas is good, but not the best team Penn State has played this year by any stretch of the imagination. In the end Penn State’s biggest issue was a bad game by Clifford and missing Jahan Dotson. The fake punt was weird but it didn’t really matter. Pinegar kicking a long field goal was weird too. The grade is really saved by a solid defensive effort by a bunch of reserves and a well called game by Anthony Poindexter. That group did about all you could ask of it and that’s a credit to coaching.
Overall: C
You’d have to go back all the way to the Ticket City Bowl to find a postseason appearance Penn State seemed less interested to be a part of. Penn State’s defense put up a good fight but the offense did little in the way of supporting that effort. This game doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, but there was no reason for that to be reflected on the field.
