No. 6 Penn State (5-0, 3-0) fell behind early but turned it on in the second half to defeat Northwestern (2-3, 1-2) 41-13 on Saturday in Evanston, Illinois.
After trailing 10-3 and going into halftime tied, the Nittany Lions outscored Northwestern 31-3 in the second half as the Penn State defense clamped down and the offense found a rhythm after sputtering through the first two quarters.
Penn State scored more than 30 points for the 12th consecutive game, extending its FBS-leading streak, and outgained Northwestern 353 to 175. The Nittany Lion defense had seven sacks, 12 tackles for losses and held the Wildcats to 45 rushing yards.
Drew Allar was 18-33 passing for 189 yards and a touchdown, along with a rushing touchdown. Allar still has not turned the ball over in his career.
Nick Singleton led the running attack with 80 yards on 21 carries and and a touchdown. He also led the team in receptions with six, including a touchdown. KeAndre Lambert-Smith pulled in four catches for 86 yards.
Daequan Hardy had Penn State’s one takeaway with a fourth-quarter interception.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Penn State got off to an inauspicious start, as Nicholas Singleton fumbled the opening kickoff at his own 11 and Northwestern recovered. Following Penn State’s first turnover of the season, the Nittany Lion defense stood strong, holding the Wildcats to 1 net yard a false start penalty. Northwestern settled for a 33-yard Jack Olsen to take an early 3-0 lead.
After the two teams traded punts following three and outs, Penn State’s offense got moving midway through the opening period. Four carries by Singleton and Kaytron Allen got the Nittany Lions to the Northwestern 36, and after a false start Penn State faced a fourth and 6 from the Wildcat 41. Allar found Dante Cephas across the middle for a 15-yard gain to keep the drive alive.
An Allar completion to Singleton for 16 yards and a 7-yard run by the sophomore back had Penn State knocking at the door at the Wildcat 3. But the Nittany Lion offense, which looked out of sorts for much of the first half, stalled there. Alex Felkins 20-yard field goal knotted the game at 3-3 with 2:37 left in the first.
Northwestern followed another exchange of three and outs with the day’s first touchdown drive. An Adisa Isaac sack of quarterback Ben Bryant had Northwestern facing a third and 16, but Bryant connected with Cam Miller on a 17-yard completion to move the chains to the Penn State 35. An offside penalty and a Bryant carry gave Northwestern another first down, and the Wildcats got inside the 5 on a 22-yard pass to Cam Johnson. Two plays later Bryant pushed it in for a touchdown and the Wildcats led 10-3 with 5:46 left in the half.
Penn State finally found the end zone late in the half. A 25-yard pass from Allar to KeAndre Lambert-Smith and a 9-yard Singleton carry got the Nittany Lions into the red zone. Subbing in at running back for a seemingly injured Allen, Trey Potts took a handoff at the 13, made a defender miss and broke a tackle on his way to Penn State’s first touchdown of the day. Alex Felkins’ extra point tied the game 10-10 and rounded out the scoring for the first half.
The Nittany Lions outgained the Wildcats 158 to 59 and the Penn State defense held Northwestern to -10 rushing, thanks in large part to four sacks. But the special teams miscue, a spotty offensive showing and Northwestern’s ability to take advantage of one sloppy defensive stand by the Nittany Lions left the game even heading into the locker room.
Northwestern went three and out again on the first drive of the second half and Penn State took over on its own 32. A pair of Singleton runs and a 10-yard completion from Allar to tight end Tyler Warren moved the chains. After a pair of incompletions, Allar connected with Lambert-Smith, who made a defender miss and picked up 35 yards to the Wildcat 15. An Allar rush and defensive holding call had the Nittany Lions inside the 3. From there Penn State ground it out, with Warren pushing Allar over the goal line on fourth and 1. Penn State took its first lead at 17-10 with 8:40 to go in the quarter after a 12-play 63-yard drive.
Penn State gave up a long Bryant run on third and 15 on Northwestern’s ensuing possession, but the QB came up short of the line to gain. Northwestern went for it on fourth down and the Nittany Lions stuffed it for a turnover on downs.
The Nittany Lion offense took over at its own 31 but couldn’t make much happen. Felkins came for the 47-yard field goal attempt and his kick into the wind was good to extend the Penn State lead to 20-10.
Northwestern faced three and out again on its next drive and attempted a run on a punt fake. Freshmen Tony Rojas and Zion Tracy snuffed it out, and Penn State took over in Wildcat territory once again, this time at the 34.
Singleton took a handoff and bounced outside for a 16-yard run and a pair of Potts carries took the Nittany Lions inside the 10. On second and goal from the 2, Allar faked a handoff and tossed it over the shoulder of Singleton, who had his man beat to the end zone for the score. Penn State opened up a 27-10 lead with 1:24 left in the third.
The Penn State defense faltered for the first time in the second half on Northwestern’s next drive. After Northwestern converted on third and 6, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Cam Miller after a Bryant incompletion moved the Wildcats into Penn State territory. Bryant connected with Thomas Gordon for 17 yards to the Penn State 28 as the third quarter came to an end.
An 8-yard run up the middle by Cam Porter and three consecutive Bryant completions moved the Wildcats inside the 5. On third and goal from the 1, however, Zane Durant came through unblocked and buried Bryant for a 9-yard loss. With Bryant shaken up, Northwestern kicked a 28-yard field goal to narrow Penn State’s lead to 27-13 with 12:01 remaining.
Penn State punted on its next possession and the Nittany Lion defense in turn forced another three and out. A shanked Northwestern punt set the Nittany Lions up at the Wildcat 40. A couple of Allar completions and a Singleton run had Penn State in the red zone. A holding call after an 8-yard Allar run set the Nittany Lions back, but a 15-yard catch-and-run by Warren and runs by Singleton and Allar put Penn State on the 1. Singleton punched it in from there and Penn State grew its lead to 34-13 with 4:07 left.
Northwestern was on the move behind backup QB Brendan Sullivan until the Nittany Lions forced their first turnover of the day. Sullivan threw a pass directly to Nittany Lion corner Daequan Hardy at the Penn State 36 and Hardy ran it back to the Northwestern 30.
On the first play of the Nittany Lions’ next possession backup QB Beau Pribula threw down the middle to a wide open Potts for a 30-yard touchdown completion with 2:20 remaining.
Felkins’ point after closed out the scoring at 41-13 as the Nittany Lion defense shut down Northwestern for the final minutes.
Penn State heads into a bye week and returns to action on Oct. 14 with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff against UMass for homecoming.
