PENN STATE REPORT CARD

OFFENSE: D

A hobbled Trace McSorley got little help from his OL, had two more passes dropped and missed a wide-open receiver for a TD. Had season-lows in plays, rushing yards, passing yards and first downs. The Lions avoided their first shutout loss since 2001 only with a TD in the last 2 minutes. Receivers caught 3 passes, two by freshman Jahan Dotson.

DEFENSE: C

Actually stopped Michigan on four consecutive series until a 13-play, 90-yard drive in the third quarter broke their will. Quarterback Shea Patterson tucked and hit the corner on a read play that he ran quite effectively. Michigan’s Kran Higdon ran for 132 wearying yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

A penalty derailed Garrett Taylor’s return of a field goal blocked by Nick Scott, underscoring a bad day for the Lions. Return game had no impact, even when Franklin tried to force-feed it.

COACHING: D

Nothing worked. Franklin’s use of timeouts backfired, his decision to allow a Michigan rekick ultimately led to a loss of yards and the direct snaps to Miles Sanders did not produce Saquon Barkley magic. Never mind the McSorley/Tommy Stevens desperation.

OVERALL: D

“There’s a lot of stuff that we missed on that, against a team as good as they are, you just flat out can’t do that,” McSorley said. “That’s going to get you beat 42-7.”