Penn State Football: Grading Nittany Lions vs. Michigan State

The secondary took a lot of heat of last week’s game vs. Michigan, as Shea Patterson carved up the Nittany Lion defense for 276 passing yards. That being said, there’s no doubt that they bounced back extremely well in the game vs. Michigan State.

Penn State’s secondary only allowed Michigan State to throw for 182 passing yards. Additionally, the secondary had five of Penn State’s eight passes defensed.

Safety Lamont Wade had six tackles, including a tackle and a half for loss. He also had two passes defensed. Redshirt freshman cornerback Marquis Wilson had five tackles and an interception. This was only Wilson’s fifth career game, and he recorded the first tackle of his career in last week’s game vs. Michigan.

Safety Jaquan Brisker had the second Penn State interception to go along with two tackles. Safety Garrett Taylor had four tackles and true freshman cornerback Keaton Ellis had three tackles. Cornerback Tariq Castro-Fields had two tackles and two passes defensed.

Cornerback John Reid had one tackle before leaving the game due to a wrist/forearm injury in the first half. He didn’t return, and like normal, we won’t know Reid’s status probably until the start of the Minnesota game. If he is out for the foreseeable future, it could be a major problem, as Reid has been Penn State’s best cornerback this year.

The secondary did have one pass interference penalty, which came on a third down and kept the drive going for Michigan State. That’s not ideal, but the field goal attempt by Michigan State on that drive ended up being blocked.

This is a positional unit that’s going to have to step up if Penn State wants to run the table, and they did so on Saturday.