Penn State football postgame report card

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Penn State ended its six-game losing streak with a road win at Michigan State on Saturday. It was far from pretty, but nobody within the program will be worried about that after so many tough outings and close calls in this season. Penn State's 28-10 victory over the Spartans kept Penn State alive for playing for bowl eligibility and awarded interim head coach Tery Smith with his first career victory. As with every game this season, there were some highs and some lows.

Here is the postgame report card for Penn State following its performance against Michigan State.

Quarterback: B

In his fourth career start, and third on the road, Ethan Grunkemeyer got off to a decent start before hitting a couple of snags. Grunkemeyer completed 8 of 13 pass attempts for 127 yards. He racked up 75 of those yards on a deep pass in the first half for a quick touchdown. Grunkemeyer was a victim of holding on to the football too long at times throughout the game as receivers were unable to get in open space for him. He did add some key rushing yards as the Nittany Lions were looking to finish of a win.

Running Backs: A

Kaytron Allen had a massive day on the ground with 181 rushing yards. Allen was instrumental in slamming the door shut on the Spartans with two touchdowns, including his 26-yard touchdown run late in the game to widen the Penn State lead immediately after a 42-yard run to move the chains. Nicholas Singleton was able to grind out 56 yards on 15 carries and helped contribute to Penn State's pivotal touchdown drive in the fourth quarter that milked the clock during a long drive.

Receivers and Tight Ends: B-

It was a largely quiet day for the wide receivers. Devonte Ross had the most productive and impactful day among the receivers with a 75-yard touchdown catch in the first half and a short touchdown run off a shovel pass in the fourth quarter. Trebor Pena was involved early with some key plays early in the game and ended the game with 4 catches for 38 yards. No other wide receiver or tight end caught a pass in the game, although Penn State strayed away from the passing game later in the game. Part of that may have been the lack of ability to get open for Grunkemeyer.

Defense: A

After getting burned for a 57-yard touchdown run on Michigan State's first offensive play of the game, the Penn State defense turned in a solid effort. Dani Dennis-Sutton had a big day with a couple of sacks and Amare Campbell continues to impress with a team-high 9 tackles. Zion Tracy forced a key fumble in the fourth quarter. Penn State held Michigan State's offense to just 1-of-10 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down attempts.

Special Teams: A

Penn State did not attempt a field goal in this game, but punter Gabe Nwosu got plenty of action in this one. Nwosu was called on to punt four times, and he averaged 46.0 yards per punt. His long was a 68-yard punt to help flip the field position battle a bit. He had just one punt land inside the opposing 20-yard line, although he was also punting from deep in Penn State's end.

Trebor Pena also had 24 punt return yards and had another return wiped out by a holding penalty. Dani Dennis-Sutton also came up wiht a big punt block in the game.

Coaching: B

Congratulations are in order for interim head coach Terry Smith as he celebrates his first career victory. Defensive coordinator Jim Knowles deserves some credit for his aggressive playcalling for the defense and, after getting snakebit on the first play on defense, shutting down the Michigan State offense. Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki was not able to get the passing game flourishing this week after opening things up a bit last week against Indiana in the second half. The opposite was the case this week wiht the running game taking over in the second half.

Overall: B

For all of the positives to be celebrated after a long-overdue win, it is important to also realize this win was very much as tough to watch as Penn State's other wins this season. The situations at the beginning of the season and this week are very different, of course, but this win was far from pretty. But after waiting as long as we have to see this team win again, we should probably just take what we get and move on to next week without dwelling on it.

Penn State will be home next week for a game against Nebraska.

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This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Grading Penn State's performance against Michigan State

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