The Blog

Penn State Wins A Weird One Against Northwestern

Penn State beat Northwestern Saturday. It was a bit strange. (Photo via GoPSUSports.com)

EVANSTON, Ill. – Everything about the Northwestern experience was weird. 

It’s not like this was the first time I’d ever been to Evanston for a football game. But I had forgotten just how weird it is. 

If you weren’t looking for a college football stadium on the banks of Lake Michigan, you wouldn’t know there’s a college football stadium on the banks of Lake Michigan. In fact, it’s easier to spot the neighboring lighthouse than it is the football stadium. 

You barely know you’re on a college campus, let alone a Big Ten campus at times. 

You don’t need to pay to park. In fact, you just park on a random street in front of a house with a very nicely manicured lawn. You walk by a ton of those nice houses and lawns, not tailgates, to get to Ryan Field. 

Once you’re in the stadium, you may spot the majority of the Penn State coaching staff navigating through the concourse as it heads to the press box to call the game while you’re buying a hot dog as a pregame snack. 

Even that hot dog was weird. 

It had a burnt bun. Do you realize how hard it is to burn a hot dog bun? 

Everything about Saturday’s game was weird and yet in the end, everything about Penn State’s 41-13 win over Northwestern was pretty much what we expected. 

Sometimes you watch a weird football game and sometimes your football team wins a weird football game – even if they don’t look the sharpest. That was and also at times wasn’t the case in Evanston on Saturday as the Nittany Lions improved to 5-0 on the season. 

For much of the first half, the slightest bit of flashbacks rushed through my head from my 2015 trip to the Chicago area for a Penn State game. It was an 11 a.m. local time kick. It was one of the smallest crowds to ever watch the Nittany Lions in this millennium. The lack of energy that James Franklin’s team practiced for was once again evident. 

Penn State did not look crisp, it did not look sharp and it did not look ready.

On the game’s opening kickoff, freshman Nicholas Singleton fumbled the ball, allowing Northwestern to take an early 3-0 lead – the first time Penn State had trailed on the scoreboard all season. 

Penn State quarterback Drew Allar led the offense to just three points and never really found his groove in the first quarter. For much of Saturday, he looked mundane. It wasn’t until late in the second quarter that Penn State found some rhythm with a 6-play, 6:15 drive for a tying touchdown.

Yet on defense, the Nittany Lions stymied the run, allowing just 10 yards on the ground in the first half. It was in the backfield consistently, recording seven tackles for a loss in the first half, including four sacks. 

Everything about Penn State’s first half was peculiar. Franklin’s squad both looked good and, well, not good. 

And that weirdness in the first half carried over into the second half that included a 31-3 thrashing from the same Lions over the Wildcats. 

There was a tush push touchdown on a four straight T formation stretch of plays. There was a gassed Singleton catching another touchdown. There was even a bizarre Daequan Hardy interception return, the result of a throw from Northwestern quarterback Brendan Sullivan that looked almost purposeful. 

It almost didn’t make sense. Penn State both struggled and was the better team by a mile. 

At times, Penn State looked ready for bigger things beyond Saturday but also looked like it desperately needed its upcoming bye and following matchup with UMass. 

There are pressing issues. Kick and punt returns haven’t been cohesive and clean, including that opening fumble. Yet on the special teams, Alex Felkins has solidified himself as the kicker, once again knocking through two field goals, with one coming from 47 yards. 

On offense, the explosive plays are still relatively MIA. But the play calling itself seems to have been intentionally conservative. 

Mike Yurcich’s offense didn’t take a shot until the fourth quarter even if it didn’t really need to at that juncture.

Yet Yurich’s offense still tallied 30-plus points once again. It still found the back of the endzone five times. It still doubled the opponent’s production in terms of yards. It even still had passing plays of more than 30 yards, not once, but twice. The offense still played complimentary football to a defense that once again looked elite. 

That defense forced a turnover, sacked the Wildcats’ quarterbacks a season-high seven times – including one touchdown-saving hit by Zane Durant – and allowed just 175 yards of Northwestern offense. 

It’s that type of complimentary football that has led to the first 10-game winning streak spanning two seasons since 2007-08 for Penn State.

Those are the facts. Penn State is 5-0. Penn State is winning football games. Over the course of a season, you witness a game like that, especially a first half like that one, and it can feel like the season is crumbling down. 

But then you blink and many of the Lions’ fans walking through the streets of Evanston after the game have a smile on their faces because Penn State won.

It takes patience to be a college football fan. Saturday’s Penn State game was a reminder of that – both in the lens of a single game and an entire season. 

Sometimes you have to see how it plays out, regardless of how weird it can get. 

If you’ve enjoyed this content, please consider supporting StuffSomersSays.com.

Share This Article
Darian Somers
Darian Somers is a 2016 graduate of Penn State and co-host of Stuff Somers Says with Steve. You can email Darian at darian@stuffsomerssays.com. Follow Darian on Twitter @StuffSomersSays.

    Join Our Newsletter?

    Thanks for reading Stuff Somers Says with Steve. Would you like to join our free newsletter? You’ll also get discounts on Stuff.