Penn State Football: Nittany Lions avoid upset, roll at Northwestern

Penn State avoided the trap of a tough conference road game and remained unbeaten after dominating at Northwestern Saturday.

It was another slow start for Penn State, but that was expected during an early road game. After scoring just one touchdown in the first half, the Nittany Lions used a big second half to rack up a dominating 31-7 win at Northwestern.

Playing an early game at Northwestern is never easy, and there was the possibility that Penn State would get caught looking past the Wildcats with a big game against Michigan coming up after next week’s bye.

Fortunately, head coach James Franklin was able to keep his team focused and the them ready to take care of business.

The first touchdown of the game was scored on a play that had not been utilized much in recent weeks. Trace McSorley found backup quarterback Tommy Stevens for a 10-yard touchdown pass. McSorley added a five-yard run in the fourth quarter for his second score of the game. He finished the day with the two scores and 245 passing yards.

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Running back Saquon Barkley once again found running the ball tough, as Northwestern stacked the box in an attempt to corral the Heisman hopeful. Barkley carried the ball 16 times for just 75 yards, 53 of which came on a third-quarter touchdown run.

Even with Barkley struggling to gain many yards, he still found the end zone twice. Just the presence of the talented running back makes things tough on opposing defenses and opens up the passing game for McSorley.

Barkley had been a big factor in the passing game over the past few weeks, but that wasn’t the case against Northwestern. He had just two catches for nine yards. Those numbers could have bene larger, but he dropped a wide-open pass in the end zone late in the game.

Several Penn State wide receivers had good days even without finding the end zone. Saeed Blacknall led the way with 74 yards receiving on four receptions. DeAndre Thompkins added six catches for 57 yards and Juwan Johnson made six grabs for 43 yards.

Saturday was another stellar performance for the stingy Penn State defense. Aside from a late touchdown with the reserves on the field, the defense shut out the Wildcats. Northwestern was limited to 265 yards and turned the ball over three times.

Marcus Allen, Troy Apke, Jason Cabinda, and Brandon Smith all tied for the team lead with five total tackles in the game. Defensive lineman Shaka Toney led the way with two sacks.

If there’s a concern for Franklin and his coaching staff coming out of the win at Northwestern it has to once again be on the offensive line and in the kicking game.

Penn State continued to get pushed around up front and will need to improve before hosting the tough Michigan defense. Kicker Tyler Davis made his first field goal of the game, but missed a 35-yard attempt near the end of the contest. Davis already has more misses that he did last year.

Even with some of the miscues, it was a very solid performance for the Nittany Lions. They avoided the trap and didn’t get caught looking to Michigan. Penn State heads into the break 6-0, 3-0 in the Big Ten.

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