Penn State vs Ohio State Game Grades

Oct 25, 2014; University Park, PA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes players react after beating the Penn State Nittany Lions 31-24 at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State entered the game last week against Ohio State as huge underdogs. For the first half, that’s exactly the way it looked. However, down 17 points in the second half, the Nittany Lions staged a comeback that fell just short. While it didn’t look like at first there would be many positives to take away from the game, things changed drastically when it was all said and done. Sure there were still struggles, but several Penn State position groups earned high marks.

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The Nittany Lions have a lot of work to do if they want to finish the 2014 season in successful fashion. They have five games remaining and still need two victories to become bowl eligible. James Franklin and the coaching staff will look to improve on the problem areas this week and get the team ready for the next challenge.

In this week’s installment of a VBR weekly series, we have assigned grades to each Penn State position group. Feel free to chime in with any and all of your agreements and disagreements!

Oct 25, 2014; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) is sacked by Ohio State Buckeyes defensive lineman Adolphus Washington (92) in the fourth quarter at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Quarterbacks

He may have come sooo close to leading Penn State to a comeback win over Ohio State, but Christian Hackenberg was far from efficient in the game. Hack dropped back to pass over 50 times, completing 31 passes, but getting sacked five times. The star quarterback struggled with his consistency all night long, missing on some throws he’s more than capable of making, including two (well really one) interceptions. The young quarterback made some nice throws down the stretch and thrived, once again, in the two-minute drill, but he’s still not showing the massive ability he has. Maybe it’s the play-calling, maybe it’s the line, maybe he’s actually regressing, but whatever it is, it’s hindering Hack from playing like the quarterback with big-time NFL potential.

Grade: C