Penn State vs Northwestern: What to know about the Wildcats
No. 11 Penn State will look to improve to 5-0 on the season this Saturday when they take on the Northwestern Wildcats at Beaver Stadium. The Wildcats (1-3, 1-0) will enter Happy Valley looking to snap a three-game losing streak after upsetting Nebraska to start their season.
The last time these two programs met was in 2017, a 31-7 win for the Nittany Lions in Evanston. A game that saw Trace McSorley throw for 245 yards and Saquon Barkley score two second half touchdowns to put the game away.
However, that was five years ago, since then quite a bit has changed in Evanston. Here’s what you need to know about the Wildcats.
Head Coach: Pat Fitzgerald (17th season)
The one constant in Evanston? The head coach, believe it or not, Pat Fitzgerald is quickly closing in on 20 years in Evanston as he's in the midst of year 17 with the Wildcats. So far in his career, Fitzgerald is 110-93 with the Wildcats, those 110 wins are good enough for 12th most among active coaches.
Fitzgerald all-time is 2-6 against the Nittany Lions.
Offense:
If you saw the Wildcats' season opener in Ireland against Nebraska and haven't seen them since you may think that this is potentially a good offense. If that describes you, let's stop that notion right here.
The Wildcats since their season opener have scored 24 points or less in each of their last three games and put up just 14 points on the MAC's Miami (OH) last weekend.
Quarterback Ryan Hillinski hasn't been bad for the Wildcats, completing 62.7% of his passes and throwing for 250+ yards in three of four games this season but he simply does not move the needle either. He's also been susceptible to costly turnovers, with three interceptions so far this season. The Nittany Lions' secondary will be by far the toughest, the former four-star quarterback will have faced this season as well.
Additionally as long as the Nittany Lions' front seven can get pressure on Hilinski throughout Saturday's game, the Nittany Lions should be able to have quite a bit of success in keeping the Wildcats' passing attack in check. The 6-foot-3, the 225-pound pro-style quarterback is completing just 44.4% of his passes when under pressure this season according to Pro Football Focus.
The name to know on offense for Northwestern is running back Evan Hull. He's a special, dynamic talent who will hurt you in both the ground game and passing game if you let him loose. Four games into the season, Hull has totaled 681 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns.
On the ground, he's had decent success with 370 yards and four touchdowns on 85 carries. The Wildcats' offensive line has struggled to be consistent in their run blocking, severely limiting Hull's abilities to open up the Wildcats' rushing attack. While they're averaging 141 rushing yards per game as a team, they're only averaging 3.6 yards per carry.
Hull is also the Wildcats' leading receiver with 29 receptions for 311 yards and one touchdown. His 114 touches on the season are 64 more than the next closest Wildcat and overall, touches the ball on about 50% of all snaps when he's on the field.
Outside of Hull, WR Malik Washington is the next big name to know, he has 27 receptions for 305 yards and one touchdown this season. While not a skill player, you'll likely hear quite a bit about offensive tackle Peter Skoronski, a potential top-of-the-first-round draft pick in next year's NFL Draft.
Overall as an offense, Northwestern is averaging 23.0 points and 445 yards per game. While they may be able to stack up quite a bit of yardage, the Wildcats have severely struggled in finishing drives this season and gave a tendency to turn the ball over. Through four games, the Wildcats have totaled 10 turnovers, a poor omen for the Wildcats seeing Penn State has forced eight turnovers in their last two games.
Defense:
The defense has been another struggle for Northwestern as the Wildcats are allowing 26.8 points and 390 yards per game this season. That being said, the Wildcats are coming off their best performance of the season last weekend. Against Miami (OH), the Wildcats allowed just 278 yards and 17 points but as said above did come out on the losing side against Miami (OH).
Watch for Penn State to have a balanced offense against Northwestern but opposing teams this season have had quite a bit of success through the air against the Wildcats. In each of their first three games, the Wildcats surrendered 240 or more passing yards and over 350+ total yards. Against the two better offenses they've faced this season in Nebraska and Duke, the Wildcats allowed 465 and 461 yards.
Opposing run games have been up-and-down against Northwestern but overall, the Wildcats run defense isn’t overly strong. Nebraska in the season opener ran for just 110 yards on 31 carries but two weeks later, Duke was able to total over 200 rushing yards against the Wildcats. After a strong performance against FCS opponent Southern Illinois, the Wildcats were not able to slow down Miami (OH)’s ground game, allowing 216 yards and 4.9 yards per carry. While Penn State’s run blocking can be inconsistent, the Wildcats front seven doesn’t lose a huge threat on paper to Penn State’s rushing attack.
The Northwestern defense isn’t overly disruptive either, totaling just five turnovers in four games as well as just 21 tackles for a loss and nine sacks.
Linebacker Bryce Gallagher is the name to know on the defensive side of the ball for Northwestern. The redshirt junior has 38 tackles this season including one tackle for a loss. He isn’t a flashy player but he’s a solid all-around linebacker who you rarely find out of position. There’s also defensive lineman Adetomiwa Adebawore who is the Wildcats’ most disruptive force on defense with three tackles for a loss and two sacks.
Special Teams:
Northwestern won’t have the edge on special teams on Saturday. Their return games hasn’t been dynamic this season, just averaging 21.5 yards per return on kickoffs and 3.3 yards per punt return.
Kicker Adam Stage like Penn State’s Jake Pinegar has struggled with consistency this season, while he’s 11-for-11 on extra points, he’s 3-for-5 on field goal attempts. Punter Luke Akers, son of the NFL great David Akers is averaging a little over 41 yards per punt this season.
Overall:
Overall, Northwestern has some quality pieces throughout their program but they simply have just not figured out how to put it all together. Don't be surprised if the Wildcats play Penn State close for a bit, Pat Fitzgerald does a great job usually of getting his team up and ready to play against programs like Penn State. In fact, Fitzgerald is 2-1 against James Franklin all time with those wins coming in 2014 and 2015 respectively.
That being said, this Penn State team is way more deep and talented than the 2014 or 2015 teams. While the Wildcats may be able to keep this one close for a quarter or the first half, expect Penn State to eventually pull away from the Wildcats in the second half en route to a comfortable victory.
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