Penn State vs. Michigan Position Grades

Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor was a house of horrors for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State was absolutely dominated by Michigan, 49-10 Saturday.  Before the game, most thought the Nittany Lions would have to play near perfect to have even a chance at the upset.  However, the game turned out worse than some expected.

From the opening kickoff, little went right for Penn State.  There was a holding call on the kickoff and Trace McSorley was sacked twice on the first drive.  The ensuing punt was returned to the Penn State nine, and not even an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Michigan sideline would hold the Wolverines at bay for long.

It was pretty much all downhill from there.

This was the result most expected.  I had thought Penn State would show more on offense, but they were stuck in reverse most of the afternoon and could do little against a very good Michigan defense.

The Nittany Lion defense is decimated by injuries and the news got worse Saturday afternoon.  As expected, they were completely overwhelmed and outmatched by Michigan’s offense.

We will see how the team regroups next week against Minnesota.   I always had Michigan as a loss from the beginning of the season.  It was just a little surprising how the team completely lacked basic fundamentals at times during this game.

Let’s hand out some positional grades for this week.  Spoiler alert…it’s brutal.