Report card: Grading Penn State’s Week 5 performance against Northwestern

The grades are in for Penn State after its win against Northwestern. The Penn State report card is here.

Defense

Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports

Grade: C

Apart from an early [autotag]Ji’Ayir Brown[/autotag] interception, this defense was lucky the weather was the way it was today. The rain-soaked field and Hurricane Ian served as the 12th man on defense today for both teams. Ryan Hilinski was able to make far too many plays in the passing attack for Northwestern, keeping it in the game far longer than it should have. Penn State allowed only 40 rushing yards, but the passing defense needs to respond at Michigan.

NEXT: Special Teams