Matt Campbell and the Nittany Lions Earn First Big Ten Win of the Season over Purdue

The wait is officially over for Matt Campbell and the Penn State Nittany Lions. It took five games, but in the fifth one, Penn State took down the Purdue Boilermakers inside Beaver Stadium.

Typically, a win over Purdue wouldn't garner all that much excitement, but this one deserves some proper time. Penn State was 10.5-point favorites in this one, and I publicly said that line was way too big. I believe the exact words were along the lines of "Penn State shouldn't be 10-point favorites over anyone until they prove something."

Saturday was the day that they proved something. They came out and put together a really impressive performance from start to finish that led to a win and a cover for the Nittany Lions.

It wasn't all smooth for the Nittany Lions, as the first half was a back-and-forth battle and Penn State actually put up 14 first-quarter points. The Boilermakers were matching with ease and thanks to an impressive 15-play 65 yard drive by Penn State, they took a 21-14 lead into the break.

The third quarter was a little bit of a tug of war for both teams as they went back and forth with each other, trading mistakes. A missed field goal by the Nittany Lions, an interception by the Boilermakers netted the Nittany Lions tacking on just 3 points in the quarter, taking a 24-14 lead into the fourth.

The fourth quarter started with a monster drive by the Nittany Lions. How about a 10-play, 85-yard drive that led to a touchdown that ended up being a real dagger for the Boilermakers. It was that drive that took seven minutes off the clock, and Purdue didn't get the ball back until there were less than 10 minutes to go in the game.

The fourth quarter was incredibly impressive for a team that has been such a disappointment to start this year. This Penn State team has lost in every single way possible, and on Saturday, they finally flipped the script. 

They out-physicalled Purdue, they out-executed Purdue, and most importantly, they closed them out when they needed to in the fourth quarter. 

All things considered, this was a very impressive performance by a Penn State team that is only playing for pride at this point. When you look at a Matt Campbell-coached team, this is the type of performance that you envision.

Going forward, he will need so much more than a win over Purdue, but this is an amazing start and. game that he won't soon forget. 

Penn State gets its first Big Ten win of the season and of Matt Campbell's career against the Purdue Boilermakers.