Penn State has its Big Ten home opener this coming weekend when they welcome Pat Fitzgerald and his always resilient Northwestern squad. Penn State in the past has had issues handling Northwestern, especially under James Franklin. The Nittany Lions will have all momentum of course coming in with four wins including an impressive second half against Central Michigan last weekend.
Heading into Saturday, there are several things worth highlighting with the game. Penn State kicks off a super tough October slate of games headlined by Ohio State and Michigan. For Northwestern, they will be trying to get its first big win of the year.
Northwestern hasn’t been able to physically impose themselves on anyone they have played thus far. Penn State isn’t shaping up to be the first ones they do that against but crazier things have happened.
Here are five things to know heading into Saturday to help paint a clearer picture of how things are going.
Northwestern has not won a game played in North America this year
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After winning their opener against Nebraska in Dublin, Ireland, the Northwestern Wildcats have lost three straight since coming back. Perhaps if this game was in Europe the Wildcats could be favorites.
Northwestern running back Evan Hull can cause problems
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With over 300 yards rushing and receiving, running back Evan Hull is a threat out of the backfield. We saw Auburn running back Tank Bigsby have some mild success against the Penn State linebackers but he couldn’t provide that threat in the passing game. Evan Hull has that ability and will be interesting to watch this weekend.
Sean Clifford has never played Northwestern
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Despite being in his sixth year with the program, Sean Clifford has never played against Northwestern. This had to be…
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