Takeaways: What did we learn from Penn State vs Northwestern?

A road game in front of a 50% capacity crowd at Ryan Field is hard to get up for. Penn State football took a while to get going Saturday, but eventually pulled away from Northwestern in the second half to win 41-13. But were Saturday’s struggles a sign of things to come for the Nittany Lions? From injury concerns to slow starts to Nick Singleton questions, here are five takeaways from the win over Northwestern.

Another sleepy road start

This is becoming a trend with road game 11 a.m. local time starts. We saw Penn State football start slow against Illinois and eventually pull away thanks to 5 turnovers for a 30-13 win. It was a similar scenario this week, except the turnovers weren’t happening. 

The Nittany Lions needed a late 1st half touchdown to tie the game at 10 against the Wildcats. The atmosphere was just what we anticipated all week, with a small attendance of 25,064. That attendance is only 53% of Ryan Field’s capacity and the smallest crowd that Penn State has played in front of during James Franklin’s coaching tenure.

What is concerning about these sluggish starts is that they have been against two of the worst teams in the Big Ten: Illinois and Northwestern. With the Ohio State game expected to also be a Big Noon Kickoff, this is something to watch going forward. Starting slow against a less talented Northwestern in front of a small crowd is a lot different than starting slow at Ohio State in front of 100,000+. James Franklin will have the bye week and UMass to clean some things up before making the trip to Columbus on October 21.

Wide receiver struggles

One of the biggest questions heading into the 2023 season was who would be the reliable outlet at wide receiver. KeAndre Lambert-Smith had a breakout game in Week 1 against West Virginia. So far, he’s been the only receiver who has had any consistency. 

Saturday against Northwestern, Lambert-Smith had 4 catches for 86 yards. The next 3 leading receivers were Nick Singleton with 6 catches for 39 yards and a TD, Trey Potts with 1 catch for a 30-yard TD, and Tyler Warren with 2 catches for 25 yards. The other wide receivers combined for 4 catches, totaling 26 yards. 

Dante Cephas was particularly concerning, having a few drops. In one situation, a drop cost the Nittany Lions a 1st down and ended a drive; another was a potential touchdown that Allar dropped right in the bucket. Cephas hasn’t produced like many fans hoped he would be entering into the season. If Penn State football hopes to beat Ohio State or Michigan, it’ll need him to at least start playing consistently like a No. 2 wide receiver.

Nick Singleton looks slow

There has just been something off with Nick Singleton this season. He had a solid day against Northwestern, with 21 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He also was the second-leading receiver for the Nittany Lions, hauling in 6 catches for 39 yards and a score. 

Despite the solid numbers, Singleton doesn’t seem to have the explosiveness of last season. There haven’t been the big breakaway runs that Penn State football fans had become accustomed to during his freshman season. 

On the year, Singleton has 74 carries for 283 yards through 5 games. That is an average of 3.8 yards per carry. A massive difference to the 6.8 yards per carry in 2022. Last season, Singleton rushed for 1,061 yards in 13 games. It isn’t necessarily on the offensive line; there were a few plays on Saturday where it looked like Singleton didn’t make the proper read, and what could have been a big play ended up being a 3- or 4-yard run. While things could still change, we are starting to reach the point in the season where questions need to be asked about why he isn’t producing up to expectations.

Dominant defense, again

The expectations were sky-high after the Penn State defense dominated Iowa last week. The defense showed up once again, holding Northwestern to 175 total yards on Saturday. 

The unit was tested early after Nick Singleton fumbled the opening kickoff, giving the Wildcats the ball at the Penn State 11-yard line. Northwestern lost yards on the possession and was forced to kick a field goal. 

In the second half, Northwestern had a 3 and out, 4 and out, failed fake punt, field goal, 3 and out, interception, and end of game as its last 7 drives. Of their 175 total yards for the game, 124 yards came on two drives for the Wildcats.

What was even more impressive was that the defense did this without forcing a ton of turnovers. I would classify the 4th down stop and failed fake punt as turnovers in Northwestern’s territory. Outside of a late 4th quarter interception, the Wildcats played a clean game, so Penn State football had to do it with plain old stops. The defensive front seven was incredible again, and the Nittany Lions tallied 7 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. If there is one thing we can say for sure after these first 5 weeks, this defense will keep Penn State in every game. It’ll be up to the offense to decide whether to take advantage.

Injury concerns

This is probably the first time since before the season that we have seen significant players get injured. Specifically, in the first half, starting guard JB Nelson was carted to the locker room and didn’t return. Star running back Kaytron Allen also left and didn’t return. 

The offensive line isn’t where you want to see guys go down, especially when starting guard Landon Tengwall was forced to medically retire before the season. As for Allen, he was establishing himself as the starting running back over Singleton and had been having a solid season. Transfer Trey Potts scored twice on Saturday, and he may have to take on a more significant role in the future if Allen is forced to miss extended time.

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