Penn State Football: Grading the Nittany Lions vs. Minnesota

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, MINNESOTA – NOVEMBER 09: Wide receiver Tyler Johnson #6 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers is tackled by Cam Brown #6 of the Penn State Nittany Lions during the third quarter at TCFBank Stadium on November 09, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – NOVEMBER 09: Wide receiver Tyler Johnson #6 of the Minnesota Golden Gophers is tackled by Cam Brown #6 of the Penn State Nittany Lions during the third quarter at TCFBank Stadium on November 09, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

B. . . . LINEBACKERS

Penn State’s defense as a whole was horrible in this game, as they gave up a ton of yards, a ton of points, missed tackles and didn’t get pressure on Tanner Morgan. However, if you had to pick a positional unit on defense that played the best, it would be the linebackers.

The linebackers pretty much had all the production on the Penn State defense on Saturday. The linebackers had all six tackles for loss and the one sack in the game.

Micah Parsons and Jan Johnson led the team with 11 tackles. Parsons also had Penn State’s only sack and two tackles for loss. Johnson had three tackles for loss. Cam Brown had six tackles and one tackle for loss.

In addition, the linebackers played a major role in Minnesota’s three yards per carry on the ground.