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Penn State report card

Following is Neil Rudel’s report card from Penn State’s 63-24 victory over Illinois on Friday night at Memorial Stadium:

POSITION GRADE COMMENT

Quarterback A No. 9 (12-19-160) just exudes toughness, adding career-high 92 rush yards. He’s being asked to run too much, from this view. Has now thrown TD in 32 straight games, fifth-longest streak in FBS history. Made another tackle.

Running back A Sanders (22-200-3TDs) is actually making people forget about Saquon Barkley. Seems to hit hole quicker and definitely finishes runs well. Slade (10-94) ran well, including 61-yard TD but also fumbled again.

Offensive line B+ Totally mushed Illini for 387 yards on 51 carries – a 7.6 per carry average. Almost unbeatable stat. And yet, Bates false started, McGovern held, Miranda lined up wrong. Room to grow.

Wide receiver B Johnson (4-51-1 TD) had best game and getting him involved early was priority. Hamler (2-41) caught one TD and missed another. Hippenhammer (1-44) nice catch late. Polk illegal formation, wiping out throwback TD to McSorley.

Tight end B Freiermuth caught a 5-yard TD, though he almost tripped over goal line. Forgive the true frosh. He’s going to be a good one. Blocking helped in run game. Holland struggling. Fumbled after dropping open pass last week.

Offensive coaching A With bevy of weapons, Nits are scoring machine and so far JoeMo not missed. Scored 60 in third straight game. That’s happened only twice previously (1893 and 1917). Were playing Dickinson and Oberlin then.

Defensive line C- Lone sack came from Windsor and Illinois busted huge plays in the run game, especially in first half. Lack of pressure leading to lack of turnovers, which CJF lamented after game.

Linebackers D Way too much room. Johnson made alert pick. He, Parsons and Brooks (13) active with six stops. Brown’s late hit early in third quarter was blatant. And yet he didn’t miss a play. He did force a fumble in first half.

Secondary C- Too many open receivers. Amani did not play well. Fell asleep on reverse. Castro-Fields missed pick. Sunderland (26) had eight stops, Taylor seven. Surgery, sadly, has cost Reid a step.

Defensive coaching C- Staff has given plenty of opportunities. In doing so, the unit lacks needed leadership – beginning this week. First-half performances vs. Pitt and Illinois were poor.

Special teams B Amazingly, in 10 kickoffs, just 27 return yards. Credit to frosh Checa, despite two OB. Pinegar missed 44-yarder, though into wind. Thinking Thompkins (2-30) deserves to be main PR, though staff pushing Hamler (1-17).

The other guy C- Lovie had Illini ready early, and they have some young talent, but couldn’t stem tide. Lions only led 28-24 after three so when home team loses the fourth 35-0, it can’t feel too good. Officials B Zebras didn’t seem to favor either team (PSU 8-72, Illinois 7-81). Missed Thompkins bobble at sideline as McSorley outsmarted crew and Lovie with quick snap. Also missed bad clip on Castro-Fields. Had fumble at goal line correct.

Atmosphere D Crowd just 34K so Friday night didn’t play well. Snapshot of pre-game student section could have been hand-counted. Interest in Illini has fallen off drastically over last 20 years as more than 70K showed for Lions’ 1994 visit.

Overall B Lions’ offense is clicking, but their defense is not. Still, after learning from App State debacle, they’ve not allowed a fourth-quarter touchdown in three games and are outscoring foes 70-0 in fourth quarter.

Rudel can be reached at 946-7527 or nrudel@altoonamirror.com. He will respond to brief comments and questions in Gameday.

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