The Penn State Football Report Card: FIU Edition

In spots, it was terrific. Allen rushed for a career-high 144 yards, looking faster than he ever has on that well-blocked 67-yard touchdown run. Devonte Ross returned from an offseason injury, one that coach James Franklin thought might have caused him to miss the non-conference schedule, for an electric 42-yard, one-handed touchdown catch. And tight end Luke Reynolds converted three third or fourth downs on his seven-catch day. But...

The Nittany Lions went 3-for-12 on third down, a red-light alarm for the offense. They were 1-for-5 on third downs of 1-4 yards, another glaring issue. Franklin called that out, as he did the offensive line. "I haven't watched this tape yet, but based on last week and what I saw today out on the field, I think there's a lot of meat left on the bone," he said of the line's two-game performance. "I think we have a chance to be a dominant front, and I wouldn't necessarily say we played like that up to this point."

DEFENSE: A-

Jim Knowles has worked wonders with Penn State's defensive line early in the season. The stars are just that, as Dani Dennis-Sutton added two more tackles for loss and Zane Durant controls the middle. But the line is shaping itself in real-time. Defensive tackles (Durant and Alonzo Ford Jr.) have both of the team's interceptions. End Jaylen Harvey delivered pressure on both, including Ford's on Saturday.

Tony Rojas (10 tackles, two QB hurries) covered so much ground, and the secondary broke up three passes. Safety Zakee Wheatley in particular stopped potential touchdowns on consecutive plays, one with an open-field tackle and the other with a breakup on a deep route. Then there's freshman end Chaz Coleman, who forced a late fumble and nearly scored. Yes, Penn State shut out a Conference USA team, but its defense looked athletic doing it.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

Justin Lustig's special teams had a mood-swing kind of game. Dom DeLuca blocked his third career punt, a wild stat, but Penn State also had a field goal blocked for the second straight year. Franklin said both blocks resulted froma similar blown assignment up front. Ross is settling in on punt returns, and King Mack had an 18-yard kickoff return.

Punter Gabriel Nwosu might have reflected the mood-swing best. He launched a 67-yard punt from near the goal line that flipped field position and drew applause. Nwosu also landed a deftly touched pooch kick inside the 5-yard line and averaged 53.3 yards per attempt. And then he sent two kickoffs out of bounds, which frustrates every coach.

COACHING: B-

The Nittany Lions were economical with penalties (just one for holding on a 2-point conversion), didn't burn pointless timeouts and moved through their substitution plan methodically again. However, the offense's first half was jarring. Kudos to coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for giving Allar the play-action deep throw to Ross in the third quarter. That made a difference. And Knowles' group appears to relish his game plan. But that 10-point first half is something for the staff to revisit this week.

OVERALL: B-

Did Penn State improve from Week 1 to Week 2? In some ways, sure. But watching that game through the lens of Oregon's visit in late September, and the Nittany Lions have a grocery list of things to correct. Yes, Allen's run was phenomenal. But the fact that he, Allar and the starters were on the field with 3:40 to play vs. FIU was notable. As Franklin said, this team isn't dominant yet.

Up next

The Nittany Lions host Villanova in their final non-conference game Sept. 13 at Beaver Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.