Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from blowout win at Northwestern

Saquon Barkley had another off day, but the Nittany Lions defense came up big. Here are three takeaways from the Penn State football blowout of Northwestern.

Penn State entered Week 6 among the top four teams in the country. They will remain in contention for a second straight Big Ten title, and the Nittany Lions are very much in the hunt for a berth in this year’s College Football Playoff.

On Saturday, the Nittany Lions went on the road for what seemed like it would be a tough test against Northwestern. The Wildcats threatened to upset Wisconsin last weekend, and things started tentatively for Penn State in Evanston. The defense bailed them out a couple of times after Northwestern pressed downfield and threatened to take an early lead.

After halftime, though, things opened up for the defending Big Ten champions. Northwestern had no answers at home as Penn State opened up a big lead and ran away with the 31-7 victory. Now 6-0 at the midway point of the regular season, James Franklin’s team will have a well-deserved bye next week ahead of back-to-back games against Michigan and Ohio State.

At this point, there is little indication that anyone else has all the ingredients to keep up with Penn State in Big Ten play. They didn’t quite get their third shutout in six games, as Northwestern scored in the final two minutes, but the Nittany Lions should still jump into the top three in this week’s AP Top 25.

Here are three more takeaways from the blowout victory over the Wildcats in early Saturday action.