Penn State Football: Lions Position Grades versus Iowa

IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 23: Quarterbacks Tommy Stevens #2 and Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrate after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes on September 23, 2017 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 23: Quarterbacks Tommy Stevens #2 and Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrate after defeating the Iowa Hawkeyes on September 23, 2017 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /
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IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 23: Defensive end Shareef Miller #19 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a safety during the second quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes on September 23, 2017 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- SEPTEMBER 23: Defensive end Shareef Miller #19 of the Penn State Nittany Lions celebrates a safety during the second quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes on September 23, 2017 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images) /

Defensive Line

Shareef Miller was so impactful, he earned a big chunk of this grade. Iowa’s Akrum Wadley is a nice back in his own right, but the Penn State football defense did an unbelievable job led by Miller. They contained him and stayed in the backfield a lot of the night.

Miller also added points himself with a key safety in the second quarter. If he hadn’t held onto Wadley in the end zone, who know what would’ve happened in overtime.

The D-Line also helped keep the passing game contained. Nathan Stanley threw for under 200 yards and  a lot of that had to do with nice pressure up front. There weren’t a whole lot of stats to back that up, but the front looked solid. Without one of the key players in Torrence Brown, this defense still managed to thrive.

Grade: A