STATE COLLEGE — Penn State knocked out Maryland 44-7 on Saturday to earn a spot in the Big Ten title game after finishing the regular season at 11-1. Head coach James Franklin’s team overcame a slow start to eventually blow out the Terrpains with 44 unanswered points over the final 45 minutes of the game.
“We just had to find a way to beat Maryland and find a way to get better,” Franklin said. “Besides the opening drives, I thought we did that today. We played a ton of our guys, which I think is very valuable, our threes and fours against their starters that they kept in the entire game. Our threes and fours were able to get in there and did really good work, which is important for their development.”
Now that the game is over. The report card is in. How did the Lions grade out? Here’s our rundown.
Penn State grade on offense: B
Yes, Penn State did eventually end up with 412 yards of offense. But, this effort from Andy Kotelnicki’s bunch felt a bit disjointed throughout, starting with a first play fumble by Nicholas Singleton. The Lions were 5 of 15 on third down though they were nearly perfect on fourth down. Singleton had two rushing touchdowns and the team can live with 5.2 yards per play. But, the battles of inconsistency this attack deals with are going to catch up to it sooner or later, one would assume. That said, they are one of just a few 11 win teams for a reason, so we won’t hold this against them too much in the big picture.
Nittany Lions grade on defense: A
Maryland scored a touchdown on its second play from scrimmage. After that, it crossed midfield only once. The Penn State pass rush was dominating. Abdul Carter had six tackles (two for loss) and two sacks. The Nittany Lions defense had two interceptions. Maryland had less than 200 yards of offense and only 72 rushing yards. And, the visitors were a putrid 2 of 12 on third down. Minus the early mishap, Tom Allen’s unit was more or less perfect.
Penn State grade on special teams: B
Singleton had his longest kick return of the season with a 66-yarder in the first quarter. Ryan Barker was made a 49-yard boot but did have a 53-yard attempt blocked. The team is still not getting much out of the punt return game but that is to be expected at this point. All in all, it was a fine day for Justin Lustig’s bunch with no major mistakes.
Nittany Lions coaching grade: A-
Yes, we know there is plenty of grumbling about how the Lions started on offense and the fact that they gave up a score on their first defensive snap. But, all told, once Penn State settled in during the second quarter, the expected blowout was on. Most of our qualms rest with Kotelnicki and the offense, as detailed above. Otherwise, we have little to gripe about after this game, and the Lions did get the backups valuable experience.
Overall Penn State grade for the Maryland game: A-
Penn State did what it needed to do Saturday: Get out of the regular season with a decisive victory. It did just that, even if the waters were choppy at times on offense, and in the process, the Lions punched their ticket to the Big Ten title game.