Penn State Football: Grades Nittany Lions in win vs. Rutgers
By Dylan Burd
Offensive Line
As you know, if you have read these articles this year, the three categories that determine my offensive line play are protecting the quarterback, running game, and penalties.
Starting with protecting the quarterback, the offensive line didn’t do a great job with that at all this week. Rutgers had four sacks, and two QB hurries. While some fault does fall on Will Levis for holding the ball too long and not being aware in the pocket, there’s no way that Rutgers should have four sacks against Penn State.
In terms of the running game, Penn State had 252 yards and three touchdowns on 46 carries. That’s 5.5 yards per carry. You can say the offensive line did a pretty good job run blocking in this game. Additionally, the offensive line had no penalties, which is a major plus.
Overall, the offensive line had a great day in two of the categories and struggled in the third category. That third category is the most important by far, and the pass protection needs to be better in the bowl game.