Penn State football’s 2023 home season concluded with a 27-6 win over Rutgers Saturday afternoon.
As always, the defense brought it, holding Rutgers to six points and no touchdowns.
The team had its problems offensively, only scoring 10 points in the first half and losing starting QB Drew Allar to injury early in the second half.
But Penn State ended with 27 points against a Rutgers defense that ranks in the top 15 nationally.
Getting more advanced, here’s how much Penn State’s players played and how they graded out according to Pro Football Focus.
THE PENN STATE OFFENSE
Penn State’s offensive line graded out well.
Of the team’s five highest-graded players, four of them were offensive linemen, and three were starters.
Starting left tackle Olu Fashanu had Penn State’s highest offensive grade at 79.7 in what was likely his last game in Beaver Stadium.
Right guard Sal Wormley was Penn State’s third-highest-graded offensive player at 75.7, and center Hunter Nourzad was behind him at 72.2
Right tackle Drew Shelton had a solid 71.8 grade, albeit with only 19 snaps playing behind Caedan Wallace.
In total, Penn State played 23 players on offense, and here’s how much each one played and how they graded out.
OLU FASHANU
Snaps: 54
Grade: 79.7
Sal Wormley
Snaps: 51
Grade: 75.7
Theo Johnson
Snaps: 49
Grade: 56.5
Tyler Warren
Snaps: 47
Grade: 67.5
Hunter Nourzad
Snaps: 46
Grade: 72.2
Kaytron Allen
Snaps: 37
Grade: 60.1
KeAndre Lambert-Smith
Snaps: 36
Grade: 54.3
Caedan Wallace
Snaps: 35
Grade: 59.4
Drew Allar
Snaps: 33
Grade: 70.2
Omari Evans
Snaps: 32
Grade: 70.6
Vega Ioane
Snaps: 30
Grade: 61.2
JB Nelson
Snaps: 27
Grade: 68.7
Beau Pribula
Snaps: 22
Grade: 64.7
Nicholas Singleton
Snaps: 20
Grade: 51.2
Drew Shelton
Snaps: 19
Grade: 71.1
Dante Cephas
Snaps: 17
Grade: 54.7
Malik McClain
Snaps: 14
Grade: 61.1
Nick Dawkins
Snaps: 8
Grade: 59.5
Liam Clifford
Snaps: 6
Grade: 79
Kaden Saunders
Snaps: 4
Grade: 57.1
Khalil Dinkins
Snaps: 4
Grade: 60
Trey Potts
Snaps: 2
Grade: 65.1
Malick Meiga
Snaps: 1
Grade: 60
DEFENSE
Penn State’s defense had two players grade in the ’90s.
Defensive end Chop Robinson– who, like Fashanu, was probably playing in his last game at Beaver Stadium, with both being projected first-round draft picks– had his best game of the season according to PFF, grading out at 96.1 over 41 snaps.
KJ Winston is blossoming into a stud at safety, and Saturday was arguably the best game of his college career thus far.
Winston got his first college interception in the second half, punctuating a stellar day.
Here are the full grades.
Abdul Carter
Snaps: 54
Grade: 79.9
Johnny Dixon
Snaps: 52
Grade: 61.2
Jaylen Reed
Snaps: 49
Grade:63.1
KJ Winston
Snaps: 46
Grade: 91.4
Curtis Jacobs
Snaps: 42
Grade: 59
Chop Robinson
Snaps: 41
Grade: 96.1
Kobe King
Snaps: 40
Grade: 84.7
Adisa Isaac
Snaps: 34
Grade: 76.3
Zane Durant
Snaps: 30
Grade: 62.6
Daequan Hardy
Snaps: 29
Grade: 64.5
Dvon Ellies
Snaps: 28
Grade: 67.4
Coziah Izzard
Snaps: 27
Grade: 79.6
Kalen King
Snaps: 26
Grade: 71
Dani Dennis-Sutton
Snaps: 25
Grade: 68.5
Tyler Elsdon
Snaps: 18
Grade: 71.2
Hakeem Beamon
Snaps: 18
Grade: 73.9
Keaton Ellis
Snaps: 17
Grade: 69.5
Dominic DeLuca
Snaps: 16
Grade: 75.2
Cam Miller
Snaps: 15
Grade: 68.2
Jordan van den Berg
Snaps: 13
Grade: 69.7
Amin Vanover
Snaps: 12
Grade: 61.3
Zakee Wheatley
Snaps: 8
Grade: 61.3
Zion Tracy
Snaps: 5
Grade: 60.5
Tony Rojas
Snaps: 7
Grade: 77.1
Jameial Lyons
Snaps: 5
Grade: 69.6
Zuriah Fisher
Snaps: 5
Grade: 60.8
