Penn State vs. San Diego State Grades

Sep 26, 2015; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin walks on the sideline during the first quarter against the San Diego State Aztecs at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated San Diego State 37-21. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren

Coaching:  

Not a bad day overall for the coaches.  The team was prepared and they walked out with a victory.  The mistakes that did happen I don’t think can be contributed to play calling or scheme.

Much maligned offensive coordinator John Donovan actually loosened the reigns on Christian Hackenberg and let him throw downfield for positive results.  This is something that we all hope continues moving forward.  In the second half though with both Akeel Lynch and Saquon Barkley on the sidelines, the play calls seemed to get really conservative.  The Aztecs were doing a lot of blitzes and bottling up the run game.

The defense was it’s usual self for defensive coordinator Bob Shoop.  He was especially aggressive in the second half, dialing up blitzes.

Special teams will need to watch the tape this week to see what went wrong and correct it.  The coaching staff has one more non conference opponent to prepare for before conference play starts in earnest.

Grade: B