Penn State Football: 2017 position grades vs Rutgers

Coaching

All three major coaching spots get a quality grade this week. James Franklin got his team refocused in the face of a sluggish start. No one lowered their head and said woe is me. Franklin’s impossible optimism won out as always and Penn State football’s winning machine got right back on track.

Brent Pry gets an individual A-plus. His defense did more than what was asked of it. After the special teams essentially gave Rutgers an easy touchdown on the opening kick, his defense tightened up the screws and balled out. Pry’s team kept a talented running back in Gus Edwards and the Rutgers offense out of the end zone and held them to just two field goals.

On offense Joe Moorhead still needs to get more creative. He did get the ball into Barkley’s hands on a great hook and ladder play, but that was an outlier. The rest of his play calls to Barkley were vanilla and didn’t amount too much.

Furthermore, Tommy Stevens was expected to be a wrinkle – that never materialized. We’ll see Moorhead has up his sleeve this week against Nebraska.

Grade: B+

Must Read: Penn State football players of the game against Rutgers