Penn State Football: Position Grades For The Army West Point Game

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Oct 3, 2015; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin (C) speaks with his team during a time out against the Army Black Knights during the fourth quarter at Beaver Stadium. Penn State won 20-14. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State narrowly escaped being upset by Army on Saturday, winning 20-14. This was one of those games that felt like the better team lost. If Army had not fumbled seven times, with three being turnovers, the outcome of this one would have been different.

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Coming off a win against San Diego State, most of us thought the Nittany Lion offense was finally turning a corner. Against Army, the offense did very little. Weather and injuries aside, the offense lacked any kind of identity. The playbook literally looked like a random mess thrown together with no continuity and lacking in creativity.

To their credit, Army played their hearts out and deserved to win the game. The Penn State defense did just enough against the Army triple option attack to only allow 14 points. However Army did outgain Penn State 293 yards to 264 yards. The same Army team that lost it’s first three games against FCS Fordham, UConn and Wake Forest.

Penn State has a week to figure it out before an Indiana Hoosiers team comes to town. The Hoosiers are 4-1 and came close to upsetting number 1 Ohio State on Saturday. Right now the outlook for the conference schedule doesn’t look good. Unless there are drastic changes, the Nittany Lions will struggle to find another two wins on their schedule to gain bowl eligibility. Even then, another 6-6 record is not going to cut it at Penn State.

Let’s get to the grades for this week.

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