2023 Penn State Football game grades | Michigan

In front of the second largest crowd in Beaver Stadium, No. 10 Penn State hosted No. 3 Michigan on Saturday in its most anticipated and most important game of the season.

With College Football Playoff implications at stake, the Nittany Lions and Wolverines entered a dogfight, with the latter of the two teams coming away victorious for the third consecutive season in 24-15 fashion.

Here’s how Penn State’s units fared in the top-10 defeat.

Offense: D

You can’t win if you can’t score.

For the second time this season, the Nittany Lions struggled to find the end zone against a top-5 opponent. The blue and white netted 238 yards of offense, two yards fewer than its previous season low of 240 against Ohio State, throughout 10 drives, four of which ended in three-and-out fashion.

Although all the problems cannot be put on Drew Allar, he went just 10-for-22 passing on the day with 70 yards and one touchdown, which went to Theo Johnson with under two minutes remaining in the game. Allar contributed another touchdown on the ground as he ran for a career-high 49 yards on 10 attempts.

Eight players caught passes for Penn State, including Allar himself on a trick play, but Michigan neutralized the top options for the home team. KeAndre Lambert-Smith caught just one pass for six yards, while Johnson caught two total passes, as did his tight end partner Tyler Warren.

Warren was responsible for the Nittany Lions’ lone explosive play through the air, a 19-yard reception in the first quarter. Kaytron Allen joined Warren as the only other member of the team on the east sideline who contributed an explosive play.

Allen went for 34 yards, his longest run of the season, as part of his 72-yard day, which marked the third straight game that he has eclipsed the 70-yard plateau. Nicholas Singleton, the other member of what was deemed a two-headed monster in the backfield last season, ran the ball one more time than Allen, 13, for 43 yards.

Defense: C+

It’s said that defense wins championships, but a defense can only do so much when there is no complement from the offense.

For the second time this season, Manny Diaz’s unit didn’t have its strongest day, but it had a day worthy of giving the team a chance to take down a top-5 opponent.

Heisman hopeful J.J. McCarthy was taken out of the game plan completely in the second half, recording zero throws for his final stat line, which read 7-of-8 with 60 yards. McCarthy did find ways to make the Nittany Lions pay on the ground as he scrambled on multiple occasions for first downs en route to 34 rushing yards.

The ground game was a problem for the second straight season against the Wolverines, as Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards both had their best games this campaign. Corum rushed 26 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns, while Edwards rushed 10 times for 52 yards and a score.

Of Michigan’s six explosive plays, five came on the ground, including two of the touchdowns, and combined for 131 of the team’s 227 total yards on the ground.

Special Teams: C

Riley Thompson was Penn State’s most consistent player on Saturday, and the Nittany Lions needed him to be that.

The Australian-born punter booted the ball away five times against the Wolverines, netting 245 total yards. Thompson averaged 49 yards per punt, with two going for more than 50 yards and one going inside the 20-yard line.

On the flip side, Daequan Hardy didn’t really have anywhere to go when he received punts off the leg of Tommy Doman. Hardy had two returns for eight yards, and his longest return of 10 yards was brought back due to a holding call.

Alex Felkins was 1-for-1 on field goal attempts as his 20-yard field goal gave the blue and white a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. Felkins brought out for any extra points as the Nittany Lions opted for two-point attempts on both of their touchdowns.

Coaching: D

Penn State had the opportunity for a statement win that would have improved its resume and given the Nittany Lions a better chance to make the College Football Playoffs.

Instead, James Franklin and company allowed a Jim Harbaugh-less Michigan team to turn the crowd against the home team as boos rang out time and time again from the crowd of 110,856.

Franklin opted to chase points early as after Allar’s 11-yard rushing touchdown in the first half, the 10th-year head coach chose to keep the offense out on the field for a two-point try. Had the Nittany Lions converted the two-point attempt, the game would’ve been a three-point contest. Instead, it became a five-point contest.

With a chance to make the game a one-possession game after Johnson’s late touchdown, Franklin opted for two again, this time running a trick play of sorts that failed and left the blue and white trailing by nine, making Sander Sahaydak’s onside kick attempt nearly pointless.

Early in the second quarter, Allen ran for nine yards on first down before Franklin and former offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich drew up a short pass to Malick Meiga, which went backward and then a rush by Allar that didn’t make the line to gain.

Franklin’s inability to innovate now has him sitting at 12-26 against ranked opponents, 3-17 versus top-10 opponents and 3-7 when matched up against the Wolverines during his tenure in Happy Valley.

Justin Ciavolella is a third-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jtc5751@psu.edu or justinciavolella@gmail.com.