Penn State Football: Position Grades at Pitt

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PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions leads his team to the field against the Pittsburgh Panthers on September 8, 2018 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

Coaching

Offensively, the game plan was perfect. Any time you score 51 points in a game, you’re going to be very happy with it. The Nittany Lions also had 390 total yards of offense in the game, which is extremely good considering the bad weather.

Defensively, the game plan started out not so great. As stated several times before this, the Nittany Lions couldn’t stop the run, and waited all the way until halftime to make adjustments. However, once the adjustments were made, the defense was unbelievable. Defensive coordinator Brent Pry stacked the box in the second half, and Pitt still couldn’t get anything done through the air. It worked very well.

Something else to note in this game is how good special teams was.

James Franklin knows when to punt, knows when to kick a field goal, and the field positioning that the Nittany Lions created for themselves due to great special teams play was a main reason they won this game by 45 points. Overall, I thought the coaching staff did a solid job, and completely outshines Pat Narduzzi and his staff.

Grade: A-

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