Northwestern made the trip to Happy Valley to take on Penn State a week after being shocked by winless UCLA. The Wildcats did what everyone expected (wink, wink) and took down the Nittany Lions in front
of their home crowd on homecoming weekend.
Stock Up
The Preston Stone-Griffin Wilde Connection
Stone continues to build an impressive rapport with his go-to receiver in Wilde. Of Stone’s 17 completions, Wilde caught seven of them for 94 yards and a touchdown. When down 21-16 in the fourth quarter, Stone repeatedly looked for his star wideout as he converted huge first down after huge first down, helping the ‘Cats drive down to take a 22-21 lead and upset the mighty Penn State Nittany Lions.
Mac Uihlein and Najee Story
Uihlein has improved each and every week. After a bit of a rough start to the season, he has clearly found his footing, coming up huge today against Penn State. He led Northwestern with 10 tackles (eight solo), including a huge stop on a 3rd-and-4 for the Nittany Lions with under four minutes to go. Story was the one who put the storybook ending on Northwestern’s improbably upset over Penn State. He made the hit on Ethan Grunkemeyer on 4th-and-3 to give the ‘Cats the ball back as they ran the clock out. While he did only have two tackles (one solo), his presence was seen throughout. The defense as a whole played fairly well, but these two popped off the screen and were EVERYWHERE.
Caleb Komolafe
The Beast himself. Caleb Komolafe came alive late in the game. His fourth quarter touchdown ended up being the game-winner as he put the ‘Cats up 22-21. A big-time third down conversion on the last drive of the game helped NU run out the clock and tie the knot on the incredible upset.
Honorable Mentions: Jack Olsen, Ore Adeyi, Playing Clean (lack of penalties), Robert Fitzgerald
Stock Down
Run Defense
Penn State’s first scoring drive was all about the ground and pound. Starting from their own 13-yard line, the Nittany Lions drove 87 yards down the field with 56 of those yards coming on the ground. It was capped off by an easy Kaytron Allen rushing touchdown. Even when the ‘Cats got close to stopping Penn State, the running back duo of Allen and Nicholas Singleton still found a way to punch it in again. When Penn State got back into the red zone because of a big play from Devonte Ross, Allen was just short of the goal line on the next play as the ball was down at the one. Two plays later and Penn State punched it in with Allar on a tush push. All three of the Nittany Lions’ scores came on the ground.
Special Teams (Drew Wagner)
In the first half, Northwestern had a punt blocked, allowed a 34-yard kick return and muffed a punt (Wagner) to give Penn State the ball in Wildcat territory. The Nittany Lions’ struggles on offense and defense were overshadowed by NU’s special teams giving them more chances. For the Wildcats against a team like Penn State, that’s not a recipe to win on the road in one of the toughest away environments in the country. The muffed punt led to a Penn State touchdown and the lead. In the early third quarter, the Nittany Lions punted deep and pinned the ‘Cats at their own one yard line as Wagner elected to not fair catch it at the 10. The special teams play did improve as the third quarter went on and into the fourth quarter as Penn State started to struggle in that aspect of the game.
Red Zone Defense
Penn State scored three times. All three scores were on the ground in the red zone. While there already is a stock down this week for the run defense, the red zone defense was part of that as Northwestern couldn’t hold the Nittany Lions to any field goals and ultimately allowed them to score on all three red zone trips. Despite the amazing day for David Braun and Co., there were plenty of lessons to take away and learn from.
Honorable Mentions: James Franklin’s Job Security
