Penn State report card: Grading the Nittany Lions’ 35-6 win over Washington

STATE COLLEGE — No. 6 Penn State knocked out Washington 35-6 on Saturday in State College. The Nittany Lions (8-1) never trailed and were dominant throughout the win, even if the first half was surely better than the second in front of 110,000-plus fans at Beaver Stadium.

“You look at the game, in my opinion, the game was won on third down,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “We were 77% on third down to their 30%. I think we were 7-of-7 in the first half to start the game. The turnover battle was tied. Explosive play battle, we won. Not as explosive as we would normally like to be, but we still won that battle. I think it was 13% to 5% in the sack battle. That was a dominant aspect of the game.

Now that the game is over, a new report card is in. How did the Nittany Lions grade out in the win? We take a look below.

Penn State grade on offense: B+

This is very much a tale of two halves. The first half grade would be an A+. The second half effort would be a C+. Those, we land on a B. Penn State scored just a single touchdown after the break as it capped a 16-play, 70-yard drive with a Kaytron Allen one-yard scoring scamper late in the fourth quarter. All told, Penn State certainly did more than enough to win on offense. It was nearly perfect on third down and was perfect in the red zone. Those are two stark differences from last week to this week. The protection held up very well, and quarterback Drew Allar was extremely effective.

We liked Andy Kotelick’s attack this week more than last week. That, of course, made all the difference in the world.

Nittany Lion grade on defense: A-

Penn State has answers for Washington at almost every turn. The Lions had nine tackles and five sacks on defense. Abdul Carter was a star, finishing with six tackles (four for loss), two sacks, and a forced fumble. A flag on Jalen Kimber negated a fourth and long stop, which was really the only negative on this night saved for some over pursuits in the backfield and missed tackles. When the starters were in, Washington had less than 50 yards rushing and fewer than 130 yards overall. It was a dominating performance by Tom Allen’s group.

Penn State grade on special teams: C+

Ryan Barker had his first miss of the year. His 44-yard field goal in the second half sailed wide left. He also missed an attempt that didn’t count after Penn State called a timeout. A ticky-tacky call on Luke Reynolds for holding also wiped out a Nick Singleton kickoff return for a touchdown. While special teams coordinator Justin Lustig was mad with the freshman, he’ll probably more angry with the officials upon review. Gabe Nwosu was good again on kickoffs and Zion Tracy was fine as a punt returner.

Nittany Lion coaching grade: A-

You can probably quibble with James Franklin’s decision to use a time out with hopes of getting a pass to Tyler Warren reviewed even though the officials told him it was quick-reviewed in Chicago. That essentially iced Barker. Otherwise, we have no complaints. Penn State flushed last week’s loss tremendously and expertly played throughout the first half. The second half was not as clean or pretty, but Penn State did its job to ensure it moved to 8-1 on the year.

Overall Penn State grade in the Washington game: A-

We teetered back and forth between B+ and A-. The fact that the Lions didn’t put Washington away on the scoreboard despite being in complete control for 60 minutes causes us to land where we do. But, after a week of panic within the fan base about one loss potentially turning into two, Penn State started fast and put those fears to rest while dominating play for much of the game. This was a very solid win.

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