The entire offense seemed to shut down once Dan Persa entered the game on Saturday
Photo: Derek Tam
Just like last week, this week’s grades would be drastically different if football games were only 30 minutes long. You have to play two complete halves to win a ballgame. And this time, unfortunately for the ‘Cats, when the second half began, things went south in a hurry, as reflected in this wretched report card.
O-Line: C
The O-line was in improv mode after Mike Kafka went down with an injury, and Dan Persa became the man with the rock in his hands. Neither Kafka or Persa is a stiff, and the ‘Cats still managed to give up 6 sacks. Persa in particular was under siege in the second half, and the running game was non-existent.
QB: B-
Mike Kafka went down with a leg injury in the second quarter, and it became a possible 2010 preview with Dan Persa at the helm. Penn State took advantage of Persa’s inexperience, shutting out the ‘Cats in the second half and holding the spry QB to just 115 yards through the air and 42 on the ground. That said, Persa held his own when called upon, and didn’t make any costly turnovers.
WRs: B
Zeke Markshausen and Andrew Brewer led the receiving corps once again, hauling in nine catches for 60 yards and six for 65 respectively. Eleven different players caught a pass for NU, but none found the endzone, and the ‘Cats’ longest pass play was 20 yards (to RB Scot Concannon of all people). The wideouts suffered from the Kafka injury, since Persa clearly has a much less lethal arm.
RBs: C-
Scott Concannon got the lion’s share of the carries Saturday…with 8. The ‘Cats are a pass-heavy team that relies more on its shifty quarterbacks than its hodge-podge of tailbacks to get yards via the ground. Dan Persa and Mike Kafka (even in limited time) were the team’s most effective runners, with 42 yards each. Until Stephen Simmons is fully healthy, this team won’t be effective in the run game.
D-Line: B-
Anyone else miss Corey Wootton? Save for a tackle that resulted in a 3-yard loss, CW was nowhere to be found. Sure, he’s dealing with a nagging injury and clearly is not at full strength, but in what was unquestionably the ‘Cats’ biggest game of his senior season, you’d think Wootton would be out there trying his damnedest to wreak havoc. That wasn’t the case.
LBs: C-
For a second week in a row, the defense gave up a long touchdown run, this time in the form of a 69-yarder to Penn State’s Evan Royster. That run was the nail in the coffin, and was broken open by missed tackles. Nate Williams and Quentin Davie find themselves doing clean-up work most of the time, and couldn’t do anything to stop PSU in the second half Saturday.
Secondary: C-
Yet again, the Cats failed to contain the top receiving threat for the opposition. This time it was Derek Moye, who torched the secondary for 123 yards on 6 catches, including a 53-yard catch over Brian Peters’ head. For all our praise of Peters in recent weeks, his play in coverage still needs work. Brad Phillips missed too many tackles in the second half that led to first downs for PSU. Not having the services of Sherrick McManis against a top-15 team also hurt.
Special Teams: D-
Enough already. Every week it’s the same deal. Jeravin Mathews: catch the damn ball. Seeing Stephen Simmons back deep on kickoffs was a source for optimism, but if any team has ever seen Jeravin Matthews attempt to catch a football, they most surely will kick the ball to his side. Stefan Demos also had a field goal attempt blocked, just another example of an opportunity the Cats failed to capitalize on.
Coaching: C+
What in the world happened at halftime? Granted, most of the momentum was lost when Persa replaced Kafka at QB, but it was the defense that wilted in crunch time. Apparently those “4’s” that the Cats’ coaching staff loves to hold up with their fingers meant nothing Saturday.
