NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates 
Penn State survived its first road test of the season with a strong showing by the defense. Penn State’s defense made just about all of the big plays in a 30-13 victory on the road against Illinois in the Big Ten opener for both teams. It was needed as the Penn State offense seemed a bit out of rhythm all game long.
Credit should be given to the Illinois defense for stepping up and playing the way it did. The first two weeks were unkind to the Illini defense, but they played their best game of the year against the visiting Nittany Lions. It just wasn’t enough as Penn State remained calm in the face of some adversity and pressure on its way to a 3-0 start to the season.
Here is how the postgame grades look for the Nittany Lions.
Quartback
Ron Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: B-
Drew Allar made his first career road start, and he did so against a defense looking to make their own statement after a tough start to the season. Allar faced consistent pressure all game long and he was knocked off his top game a bit as a result. Allar completed just 16-of-33 passes for 208 yards. He missed a few open looks and he was unable to connect on a few passes at times. He also had some receivers drop some passes right into their hands at times, which didn’t help.
But Allar made one of the plays of the game, he did not turn the football over, and that has to be a nice plus in Allar’s first road test in the starting role. There is room to improve, which is fine.
Running Backs
Michael Hickey/Getty Images
Grade: B-
The running game never really got a chance to get going, which should be a tremendous credit to the way Illinois planned its rush defense. Bringing an extra defender up front to sell out on stopping the run paid off for the Illini, but the Penn State running backs did make some plays to help grab the win.
Kaytron Allen muscled…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/report-card-grading-penn-state-202943330.html?src=rss
Author : Nittany Lions Wire
Publish date : 2023-09-16 20:29:43
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
