Penn State Football: Position grades versus Wisconsin

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STATE COLLEGE, PA – NOVEMBER 10: Miles Sanders #24 of the Penn State Nittany Lions hurdles Eric Burrell #25 of the Wisconsin Badgers during the second half at Beaver Stadium on November 10, 2018 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

Running Backs

After two consecutive bad games against Iowa and Michigan, rushing for 62 yards and 14 yards respectively, Miles Sanders gave us the bounce back performance we’d all been waiting for. Sanders ran for 159 yards on 23 carries (6.9 yard per carry), and also had a one-yard touchdown against the Badgers. He moved over the 1,000 rushing yard mark for the 2018 season.

Sanders was all over in this game, making defenders miss in every way possible with several jukes and hurdles. Moreover, Sanders helped out in the passing game a bit too, catches two balls for nine yards.

My only gripe with Sanders is that he needs to work on ball security a bit. He had no fumbles credit to him, as one of his fumbles was reversed and the other was credited to the team, but those are situations you never want to be in in the first place.

In terms of other running backs, Ricky Slade had two carries for only one yard, and Jonathan Thomas had one carry off of a fake punt to help Penn State pick up the first down.

If Miles Sanders can continue to make plays while Trace Mcsorley is injured, Penn State’s life on offense is going to be a lot easier.

Grade: A

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