Penn State Football: Position Grades versus Georgia State

STATE COLLEGE, PA - SEPTEMBER 16: Saeed Blacknall #13 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a 35 yard touchdown with Tommy Stevens #2 against the Georgia State Panthers at Beaver Stadium on September 16, 2017 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

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STATE COLLEGE, PA – SEPTEMBER 16: Marcus Allen #2 and Troy Apke #28 of the Penn State Nittany Lions record a tackle against the Georgia State Panthers at Beaver Stadium on September 16, 2017 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Secondary

Penn State’s best position group continued its dominance in week three. The Nittany Lions’ secondary owned this game from the get-go. Georgia State got its completions in here and there, but the defense made big play after big play on the back-end.

Grant Haley got the night started with a gift floated to him in the second quarter. He flipped the field and set up the offense for an easy score. Senior safety Marcus Allen continued the attack with his first career interception. Despite recording 267 career tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and nine pass deflections in his illustrious career, it took a poor read by Panthers’ quarterback Conner Manning to deliver his first pick.

True freshman Tariq Castro-Fields rounded out another A+ day in the secondary with a reaching interception in the third quarter. Outside of the interceptions, this defense never had the lid blown off.

Georgia State could only hit the short routes to pickup yardage. The way this defense hits and breaks up passes makes for a suffocating look.

Grade: A+

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