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Penn State Football: Grading the Nittany Lions vs. Minnesota

By Dylan Burd

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 09: Sean Clifford #14 of the Penn State Nittany Lions passes the ball against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the fourth quarter at TCFBank Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 31-26 to remain undefeated.(Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - NOVEMBER 09: Sean Clifford #14 of the Penn State Nittany Lions passes the ball against the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the fourth quarter at TCFBank Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 31-26 to remain undefeated.(Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /
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MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 09: Tanner Morgan #2 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers scrambles with the ball in the fourth quarter agains the Penn State Nittany Lions at TCFBank Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 31-26 to remain undefeated.(Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – NOVEMBER 09: Tanner Morgan #2 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers scrambles with the ball in the fourth quarter agains the Penn State Nittany Lions at TCFBank Stadium on November 9, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 31-26 to remain undefeated.(Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images) /

B-. . . . THE DEFENSIVE LINE

As I’ve said it over and over again, the defensive line has been the best unit for this Penn State team all season. However, this was an average performance for them.

Penn State allowed 121 rushing yards and a touchdown on 40 carries in this game. That’s only three yards per carry, a very good number. Minnesota had two runs for over 20 yards in this game, which isn’t good, but the Nittany Lions defense against the run on plays other than that was pretty much the only semblance of defense that Penn State had on Saturday.

The defensive line couldn’t get any pressure at all on Tanner Morgan. Penn State had one sack and six tackles for loss, none of which were made by players on the defensive line. The Nittany Lions also had no QB hurries all game. The one time the team got pressure on Morgan, he threw one of his two incompletions in the game, which should have been intercepted by Penn State, but wasn’t.

Robert Windsor led all players on the defensive line with four tackles. Shaka Toney had three tackles, while Shane Simmons, Yetur Gross-Matos, Jayson Oweh, and P.J Mustipher all had two. Toney also recovered Minnesota’s third-quarter fumble that was forced by Keaton Ellis.

Overall, it was a solid day defending the run, but a lousy day in terms of getting pressure on the quarterback for the defensive line.

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