Following is Neil Rudel's report card from Penn State's 48-7 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday night at Camp Randall Stadium:
POSITION GRADE COMMENT
Quarterback A Clark's touchdown-interception ratio has grown to 10-2. He deserves to be mentioned in Heisman Trophy consideration. Devlin was 2-for-5 late with a drop.
Running backs B Lions were held to a season-low 106 yards on the ground. Royster was a step away from breaking a couple biggies. Green didn't play in first half, and third-teamer Carter (leg) was hurt. Suhey used in slot situations.
Offensive line A Clark was not sacked at all. Unit has developed a great feel and has been extremely precise with no false starts. Lone penalty was Wisniewski hold.
Receivers B+ DWill made up for his early drop of a bomb with a punt return TD. Norwood returned strong from hamstring. Good move allowing him to sit the Purdue game. McDonald (2-33) got his chance.
Tight end B No catches, but both injured (Shuler, Quarless) appeared. Quarless was used to spread the field, splitting out wide. Szerba cameod late.
Overall offense A How about the first play - a 20-yard rifle from Clark to Brackett over the middle? The Lions also opened the third quarter, up 24-7, on a mission to build on lead and went 76 yards on six plays.
Defensive line A Evans and Koroma appeared on second series, but the emerging star is Maybin with 3.5 TFLs. Did you catch the block he laid on a Badger lineman during an interception return? Odrick broke up two passes.
Linebacker A Bowman, as usual, led with eight stops, including a sure one-on-one tackle of Hill early that set tone. Like how staff went to backup Gbadyu, who contributed two stops in eight-in-box look.
Secondary A Sargeant replaced Wallace in the second half and returned two interceptions for 55 yards after Wallace missed an open field tackle. Davis held up nicely in one-on-one coverage.
Overall defense A We'll forgive slight letdown once 17-0 lead was built, allowing Badgers to score their only TD, but response thereafter was impressive. Forced seven punts. Newbees Mauti, Stupar are real hitters.
Special teams A Kickoff coverage was tight, liminting UW to average of 19.2 on eight of 'em with long of 26. Stupar set tone with opening-game rack at 15. DWill burst punt returnTD, Kelly nailed a 50-yard FG. All's well.
Overall coaching A Lions are now 5-0 when JoePa spends parts of all of games in the press box. With 41-7 lead and five minutes left, Nits were surprisingly still throwing, presumably to get Devlin work.
The other guy C- Guessing Badgers, now 0-3 in the Big Ten, will replace their quarterback with backup Sherer, who moved the team better. UW needed a good start to shake off Ohio State loss and didn't get it.
Officials B Lion nemesis Witvoet was crew chief. The guy's got nine lives. Badgers were flagged eight times for 72 yards, including five in first half.
Overall grade A Facing second straight roady, staff went with no pads Monday and just shoulder pads Tuesday as JoePa scaled it back. Result was impressive as Lions were crisp, had their legs, tackled sure and made several big hits.
Neil Rudel can be reached at 946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com. He will respond to brief comments and questions in Gameday.
