Penn State vs Rutgers Game Grades

Sep 13, 2014; Piscataway, NJ, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions safety Ryan Keiser (23) intercepts a pass intended for Rutgers Scarlet Knights wide receiver Leonte Carroo (4) with less than a minute to play at High Points Solutions Stadium. Penn State Nittany Lions defeat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Jim O’Connor- USA TODAY Sports

Secondary

After registering zero interceptions in the first two games, the Penn State defense came away with five against Rutgers, including four from the secondary.

The secondary gave Gary Nova fits throughout this one, as the senior quarterback completed just 50 percent of his passes and failed to reach 200 yards passing. Two of the Nittany Lions interceptions could be chalked up to the fault of the receivers, but being able to capitalize on those miscues is something Penn State hadn’t shown they could do to this point.

Trevor Williams registered two interceptions, the first of which was off the hands of a Rutgers receiver. On his second pick, Williams showed his old wide receiver ability by going up and plucking the ball from the air on a deep pass down the middle of the field.

Adrian Amos had a nice pick on a pass intended for Paul James and Ryan Keiser sealed the win for Penn State with his late interception. Keiser also had a key pass breakup on a third down attempt. Jordan Lucas was his normal stellar self and wasn’t thrown at all that often last night.

This was as good of a performance as you could expect from the secondary.

Grade: A