Penn State Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Northwestern

After defeating Indiana with relative ease in Week 5, Penn State football must now travel to Evanston to face off against Northwestern.

What a great time to be a Nittany Lions fan.

After losing promising head coach Bill O’Brien to the Houston Texans following two winning seasons in Happy Valley, the university hired former Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin to his dream job, and to return the football team to its former glory.

And so far, things have gone even better than expected.

Franklin’s 2017 Penn State squad has been off to one of the best starts in the program’s storied history, and could very well find itself in the College Football Playoff for the first time since its inception in 2014.

Currently ranked the fourth-best team in the nation by the AP Top 25, the Nittany Lions have outscored opponents by a combined score of 207-47 and their roster is filled to the brim with future NFL talent.

Penn State’s offense is absolutely loaded with talented playmakers, including Heisman Trophy frontrunner and future first-round pick Saquon Barkley, and the program is fielding a top-20 defense for third year in a row behind senior safety Marcus Allen and senior linebacker Jason Cabinda.

But as Penn State gears up for the toughest stretch of its season with a pair of games against No. 10 Ohio State and No. 7 Michigan, the team shouldn’t overlook its Week 6 game against the Northwestern Wildcats.

Even though Northwestern has gotten off to a slow start in 2017, winning only two of its first four games, the team has defeated Penn State in their last two encounters and could look to upset the Big Ten’s lead dog a week before its bye.

Here are three bold predictions for Penn State’s Week 6 games against the Northwestern Wildcats.