Penn State vs. Northwestern Position Grades

Nov 7, 2015; Evanston, IL, USA; Northwestern Wildcats defensive lineman Dean Lowry (94) is penalized after tackling Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Christian Hackenberg (14) during the first quarter at Ryan Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive Line:

Another patch work kind of day for the offensive line.  Hackenberg was sacked twice and was running away from pressure on a lot of other plays because a lineman would miss a block or fail to pick up a blitzing linebacker.

The run blocking has been better than the pass blocking pretty much all season, but against the Wildcats it wasn’t great.  Hats off to Northwestern’s defense for disrupting the Penn State front five.  Most runs were all Barkley making moves of his own to gain yards.

The biggest issue with the line was how many penalties they took.  So many false starts or holds that were constantly putting the offense in second or third and long situations.  Penn State came into the game as one of the least penalized teams in the conference so hopefully this was an anomaly.

Grade: C-

Next: Defensive Line