5 Penn State football players made PFF’s Week 6 Big Ten Team of week

Penn State football represented the Big Ten well this week in the eyes of Pro Football Focus.

On Monday morning, a lot of folks in Happy Valley weren’t too thrilled to see the results of the Big Ten Players of the Week. Even Penn State football players felt the need to get a few laughs out on Twitter as they thought a handful of their teammates were snubbed on the selections.

This past Saturday, Penn State destroyed Purdue 35-7 at home. Although the offense stalled out a bit in the second half, their first-half performance was nearly flawless as they dominated the scoreboard, putting up 28 in the first half alone.

As for the defense, they didn’t waver for a second. Not only did Penn State only allow seven points on Saturday, but their back end of the defense barely had to do anything. As the dominant defensive line accounted for ten total sacks, approaching the program’s single-game record, Penn State put on a purely dominant performance that was sure to get recognition within the conference. Unfortunately, it did not.

Not a single Penn State player was chosen for the Big Ten’s weekly awards. Don’t worry though, because Cam Mellor over at Pro Football Focus watched Penn State versus Purdue, and clearly liked what he saw from five select Nittany Lions against Purdue as he added them to PFF’s Week 6 Team of the Week.

Who made the cut?

The Offense:

Let’s start with the offense. As we mentioned before, Penn State had its shining moments early on, such as the 21-point dominant first quarter. Then, there was the inability to put up more than 14 points for the remaining three quarters, despite having opportunities to do so,

Regardless of the stalling out though, Penn State still had a decent offensive performance — especially from the quarterback, Sean Clifford, who was PFF’s selection for the quarterback spot. Although two of Clifford’s top two wideouts had shining moments, tight end, Nick Bowers was the pass-catcher who managed to make the cut for the Team of the Week this time around.

And remember the criticism in the past for the offensive line? Well, Rasheed Walker helped out this week in that department, making the line look good by not allowing a single pressure on 25 pass-blocking plays. Also, he graded out highly in run-blocking, as well.

The Defense:

There’s really not much to say regarding the defense at this point. They were flat out dominant against a short-handed opponent who, in reality, never really stood a chance. Shaka Toney cracked the list as he led Penn State’s sack party with three total, notching a career day.

Meanwhile, the always dominant Micah Parsons made up for his ejection from last week with a stellar game against Purdue. At this point, the only player in the way of Parsons is Parsons himself. As long as he can remain on the field, he will be a force for the opposition.