Penn State Football: Position Grades versus Northwestern

Trace McSorley broke out of his slump. Saquon Barkley still can’t be contained, and Penn State football’s D-Line has another pass rusher in Shaka Toney.

As frustrating as a 5-0 start can be, win No. 6 for Penn State football put a lot of concerns to rest. Trace McSorley put up his best performance of the year and answered the call. Northwestern opted to focus heavily on Saquon Barkley, and force McSorley to beat them. He did it in emphatic fashion.

The Nittany Lions’ defense kept pressuring Clayton Thorson. It also came up with key turnovers in Penn State territory while shutting down a great running back in Justin Jackson. Shaka Toney recorded two sacks, as the Nittany Lions feasted on Northwestern to the tune of four sacks.

One thing that has yet to be resolved is the offensive line struggles. McSorley and Barkley made plays in spite of the struggling unit. The junior signal caller was sacked four times and Barkley found little running room. In fact, the rushing attack lost a total of 61 yards off 38 carries and netted just 95 total yards.

With the bye week coming, hopefully, the O-Line can regroup. It has to for the sake of the next two weeks against Ohio State and Michigan.