It wasn’t pretty, but No. 11 Penn State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) left Beaver Stadium with a 17-7 victory over Northwestern (1-4, 1-1) on a soggy, sloppy Saturday afternoon.
The Nittany Lions battled through some terrible weather and conditions, with heavy rain falling throughout the game. Penn State turned the ball over five times, with four fumbles, and gave Northwestern every opportunity to get back into the game. But Penn State’s defense hung tough time and time again to help lead the Nittany Lions to victory.
How It Happened
Northwestern got the ball first in the game but didn’t make anything of it, as three straight rushing attempts by the Wildcats resulted in a Northwestern three-and-out.
Penn State started at its own 11-yard line after a holding penalty on the punt return. Running back Nicholas Singleton made his presence felt immediately, carrying the ball on seven of the nine plays from scrimmage on the first drive. He amassed 25 yards before the drive stalled and punter Barney Amor booted the ball back to the Wildcats. Again, Northwestern went three-and-out.
On Penn State’s next drive, Singleton fumbled the ball on the Northwestern 40-yard line, but the Wildcats once again went three-and-out. After the Nittany Lions got the ball back on the punt, Sean Clifford’s pass intended for Trey Wallace was picked off by Northwestern’s Bryce Gallagher at the Penn State 42-yard line.
The Nittany Lions quickly regained possession when Ji’Ayir Brown picked off Northwestern quarterback Ryan Hilinski and took it back to Penn State’s 40-yard line after a holding penalty on the return.
Sean Clifford made the most of the turnover, as he completed a 20-yard pass to Brenton Strange who leaped his way into the end zone for the game’s first score with 15 seconds left.
Play was quiet to begin the second quarter, as both teams exchanged punts. Northwestern finally picked up a first down in the second quarter, but the drive didn’t amount to anything. Ryan Hilinski couldn’t handle a poor snap, and Nick Tarburton fell on the ball to recover the fumble for Penn State at Northwestern’s 45-yard line.
That fumble led to Nick Singleton’s first score of the game, as he battled his way into the end zone on a 2-yard carry to extend Penn State’s lead to 14-0 with 5:02 left in the second quarter.
The two teams then traded fumbles to conclude the second half.
Penn State began the third quarter with a decent drive, but Keyvone Lee fumbled the ball at Northwestern’s 33-yard line to give the ball to the Wildcats. As you could probably predict at this point, Penn State’s defense held the Wildcats to another three-and-out. That didn’t help the Nittany Lions much, though, as Penn State’s offense had its own three-and-out.
The Wildcats made things late in the quarter, as Ryan Hilisnki found a wide-open Jacob Gill for a 47-yard touchdown, cutting Penn State’s lead to 14-7 with 2:10 remaining in the third period.
Sean Clifford and co. answered, though. Clifford completed a 43-yard pass to Parker Washington to bring Penn State into Northwestern territory. The Nittany Lions settled for a Jake Pinegar 38-yard field goal to extend Penn State’s lead to 17-7 with 14:29 left in the fourth quarter.
Things continued to stay interesting. Northwestern drove 74 yards down the field and was faced fourth and goal at Penn State’s 1-yard line with a chance to narrow Penn State’s lead. PJ Mustipher then stuffed Hilinski on the quarterback sneak attempt to turn the ball over on downs. Penn State couldn’t make much of the opportunity, as it punted the ball away quickly.
Northwestern got the ball back, but Penn State’s defense stood strong and forced the Wildcats to turn the ball over on downs for the second consecutive drive. Of course, Penn State went three-and-out again.
The teams then exchanged punts, setting Penn State up for a potential game-icing drive. Then running back Kaytron Allen fumbled the football to give Northwestern another chance to get back in the game, but Penn State’s defense stood strong once again.
The offense was able to finally finish the job and milk the clock for Penn State’s fifth win of the season.
Takeaways
- Penn State’s defense bailed the team out massively today. Yes, there were a few explosive plays given up, but the offense turned the ball over four times. Yet, the defense allowed zero points off turnovers. Northwestern was never really given a yard throughout the game and managed only 36 net yards on the ground on a day when the run game was crucial.
- The self-inflicted wounds were definitely an issue for the offense. Penn State turned the ball over five times, with one interception and four fumbles. That’s not great. Nick Singleton fumbled the ball twice and Keyvone Lee and Kaytron Allen once each. That’s some stuff that has to be cleaned up with Penn State’s toughest part of its schedule coming up after the bye week.
- Despite the miscues, Singleton ran for 87 yards on 21 carries and Allen went for 86 yards on 21 carries as Penn State racked up 220 rushing yards on the day.
- Mike Yurcich’s offense in general was very streaky. There were drives when the unit clicked very well, and there were others where it looked like it couldn’t buy a yard. We saw this a bit last week against Central Michigan, as well.
What’s Next
The Nittany Lions will be off next weekend, as the team heads into its bye week. Penn State will then be back in action when it takes on No. 4 Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 15 in Ann Arbor.
