NFL
By: Courtney Walsh
With another epic whiteout in the books and a win, Penn State now heads to Ryan Field home of the Northwestern Wildcats who sit at 2-2. The bye week would be extra sweet with a 5-0 record and all to play for still ahead of us. The Wildcats will come into the game feeling good as well after its upset over Minnesota and look to build off it. But, Northwestern isn’t the only team cooking the Nittany Lions have all sorts of streaks going and have shown that the preseason hype was real and just due. With all the drama off the field ahead of the season, Northwestern is still finding itself and how its season will go in 2023.
Stop The Wildcats
Ben Bryant starts at QB for the Wildcats and is a transfer from Cincinnati where he put up very decent numbers last season and last week he showed the Gophers what he can do. Can’t let him have time in the pocket and hit his weapons he is no Lamar Jackson but can avoid the rush if he has to. Their running game is Cam Porter and Cam only unless it’s a gadget play to someone he is the lone running threat. Penn State’s defense continues to play as it has and the task should be easy to complete. In terms of the passing game, this isn’t a unit striking fear in anyone’s heart as Bryce Kirtz is WR1, and if last week proved anything it’s that he is talented and can hurt you. It will be key to shut down any type of running game and apply pressure on Bryant who spreads the ball around so a Penn State secondary which is 1st in the nation in pass yards per game is facing a test this week.
In Drew We Trust
Entering his 5th start Drew Allar has ZERO interceptions and ZERO lost fumbles numbers that any coach would love to have from a brand-new signal caller. He has had no issues hitting the open man and not making that killer mistake a lot of young QB do. A lot of people (surprise I am “a lot of people”) will say where are the big plays that make the highlights? I guess the question would be when you average 40.5 points per game do you really need them? The duo known by their government names of Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton and Northwestern defense is not good versus the run so expect it early and often from coach Franklin and company. This could be the game we see some big plays from the passing game and some of our newer wideouts that haven’t had a chance to pop one off yet. It is great to get the crossing routes and tough runs but, who doesn’t like some bombs to get the jucies flowing?
Final Verdict
This is a game that when I looked at the schedule I checked the box of a win, so lets make that a fact. Before we play UMass and then a mega matchup with the Buckeyes. I also still want to see improvement from the kicking game PLEASE, no more blocked kicks or misses. Staying as one of the top contenders for a trip to the College Football Playoff means winning the games you should and look good while doing it. With a defense attacking from the first whistle and an offense finding its boom all the signs point to a PSU win. I see this game going 42-17 Nittany Lions and this is what the kids call a “get right game”
#WeAre
