Reeling from a crushing loss to Wisconsin, the unranked Nittany Lions face a surging Wildcats squad determined to exploit Rocco Becht’s struggles and derail Penn State’s season.
The Penn State Nittany Lions enter their Week 5 contest with a black eye following a second-half disaster against Wisconsin last week.
The Nittany Lions held an early 17-0 lead, but fell to Wisconsin 24-20 after allowing the Badgers to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. More eye-opening was the play of quarterback Rocco Becht, who went 12 of 29 passing for 114 yards and one interception. He did add 23 yards and a score on the ground.
The loss dropped PSU from No. 13 to out of the rankings before playing Northwestern on Friday night. Without Ohio State, Indiana, or Oregon on the schedule, Penn State had a good chance to make the College Football Playoff if they could navigate the Big Ten after playing three non-Power 4 programs out of conference.
Nope.
Penn State entered October without a win against a Power 4 school. The Nittany Lions will have a chance to earn their first such win on the road against Northwestern on Friday night.
Bill Connelly of ESPN put PSU on upset alert before the game.
He notes that NU has "overachieved" during its first three games. Penn State could be in for a tough night at the new Ryan Field.
Northwestern is 2-1, earning wins over South Dakota State and a 41-7 blowout of Colorado on Sept. 19. The lone loss for the Wildcats came in Week 4, when they played No. 5 Indiana extremely well before losing 29-23 on the road.
Don't expect Northwestern to be an easy out for Penn State.
The schedule is set to become much more challenging for PSU than it was in September. In Week 6, Penn State will host No. 18 USC before going on the road to play Michigan at the "Big House" on October 17.
The Nittany Lions cannot afford to look ahead at USC. Northwestern had played too well early in the season, and PSU killed its margin for error with the loss to Wisconsin.
While Indiana only scored 29 points, the Hoosiers gained 472 total yards. Penn State will have ample opportunity to move the ball against the Wildcats.
Becht must be better against Northwestern. For him to be better, the offensive line must look more competent than it did in September. The rushing attack needs to show improvement, and PSU should be able to run against a defense that surrendered 271 rushing yards last week.
