Penn State vs. Maryland Position Grades

Oct 24, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) pressured by Maryland Terrapins lineman Yannick Ngakoue (7) at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive Line: 

For this entire season the offensive line has been under the microscope. After struggling last year, things have not been much better this season. Saturday was another questionable performance from the guys up front. As pictured above, quarterback Christian Hackenberg again faced some heavy pressure.

To start, the run game really struggled. There were several times where Saquon Barkley was handed the ball and already had a Maryland defender draped on him. The run blocking has been decent this year, but it was very poor against the Terps.

As for protecting Hackenberg in the pass game, the offensive line again struggled. He faced some heavy pressure from the Maryland defense and got knocked around on several occasions. The Nittany Lions allowed three sacks on the day. If Penn State is going to have much success this year, Hackenberg is going to have to stay upright each week.

The offensive line was finally healthy for the matchup with the Terps, but Andrew Nelson did leave the game for the second time this season.

Maryland entered the game with a defense that had not been very good. That fact that Penn State struggled to block showed how major the problems up front are.

Because of the lack of run blocking and the amount of pressure that Hackenberg faced, the grade for the offensive line is not very good.

Grade: C-

Next: Defensive Line