2022 Penn State football game grades: Ohio

Story posted September 12, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Logan Bourandas

It’s hard to have a home opener as dominant as Penn State did on Saturday.

The blue and white moved to 2-0 on the young season with a 46-10 victory over the Ohio Bobcats. That win also propelled the Nittany Lions to No. 22 in the recent AP Polls.

Here’s a look at how each position group performed in Saturday’s win.

Offense: A+

What wasn’t there to like?

For probably the first time in my CommRadio grading career, I’m going with the highest grade possible.

There was a 100-yard rusher for the first time since late 2020 as Nicholas Singleton balled out for the Beaver Stadium crowd.

Singleton finished with 186 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. While we’re on the subject of Penn State freshmen, we saw a lot of Drew Allar under center.

After Sean Clifford played well through the first half, Allar took over and threw for the first two touchdowns of his NFL career.

For the first time in a while, the offensive attack was balanced, finishing with 300 more yards than the Bobcats.

Defense: A

Report cards’ looking good this week.

While the unit failed to record an interception for the second straight week and only had one sack, allowing only ten points speaks for itself.

Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke completed less than half of his passes after dotting up FAU in his last start. Adding on to that, Rourke was the teams rushing leader with just 37 yards on the ground.

The top two rushing leaders for the Bobcats were both quarterbacks as starting running back Sieh Bangura finished with just 25 yards after having over 100 yards the week prior.

In front of the Beaver Stadium crowd, the defense balled out as it should against the Bobcats.

Coaching: B+

All around it was a great performance from the Nittany Lions, but the question of why Allar was brought in so soon needs to be asked.

Allar came in early in the third quarter, and according to James Franklin after the game, the plan was to get him in earlier on for a few series.

Whether the Nittany Lions want to admit it or not, a quarterback controversy is brewing.

Clifford played really well, but it’s hard not to notice how poised Allar looked during his quarter and a half of playing time.

There’s a similar question at running back. The plan was to have that similar rotation with Kevyone Lee announced as the starter before the game.

Lee didn’t record a single yard, while Singleton made more than the most of his limited production. It’s clear who should be starting in the backfield but will change be made as the blue and white travel to Auburn?

Logan Bourandas is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.