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.
3. Saquon Barkley can’t be stopped for a full 60 even by a solid defense
Through the first half, Northwestern was doing exactly what they needed to do to keep themselves in the game. Most importantly for the Wildcats defense, they bottled up Saquon Barkley. He was held to negative rushing yardage in the first half, and at the intermission he had just seven total yards on nine touches.
Following a similar script to last week’s Indiana game, the Wildcats focused on stopping the Heisman contender. They did a good job for one half, but Pat Fitzgerald’s team learned the hard way that it is impossible to bottle up Barkley for a full four quarters. The Wildcats did not get beat on special teams like Indiana did last week, as he was not allowed to return any kickoffs.
But ultimately Barkley is just too good to contain for 60 minutes. He heated up in the third quarter, piling up 58 yards on just five carries and scoring twice in the process. Most of that was gained on his 53-yard scamper for a highlight-reel touchdown.
It was only a matter of time before Saquon broke loose. pic.twitter.com/EnpZuvz1Xq
— Onward State (@OnwardState) October 7, 2017
Barkley remains one of the favorites to be honored at the Downtown Athletic Club in December after finishing with 75 rushing yards and the two touchdowns in the road win. At the midway point of the season, Barkley has been a primary reason why Penn State is still undefeated and on track for another Big Ten title.
2. Trace McSorley can still win games against tough opponents
Throughout the first half of the season, Trace McSorley has been pilloried by a segment of the Penn State fan base for his inconsistent play. The criticism hasn’t necessarily been warranted, as McSorley entered the Northwestern game with a 65 percent completion rate and 12 touchdowns against four interceptions. But it has stuck even though Penn State continues to win.
In the win over Northwestern, McSorley did have some errant throws. He misfired on several plays that could have boosted his stat line further, at least two which could have been touchdowns. But the Nittany Lions quarterback was still an efficient 21-of-27 for 222 yards and a touchdown. He added a late touchdown run to put Penn State up 31-0 as they blew out their hosts. In the end, it will be hard to find much fault with McSorley after his most recent performance.
As we’ve seen, defenses are going to continue to key in on Saquon Barkley as the season goes on. They won’t be able to entirely stop the standout running back, but they can contain the damage he does. That will make McSorley’s play even more critical for Penn State as they enter the toughest stretch of the Big Ten schedule.
3. Defense is the catalyst for Penn State as they try to repeat in Big Ten
Ultimately, the reason why Penn State posted another convincing win was thanks to one of the most dominant defenses in the country. In the first half, Northwestern put together several strong drives that looked capable of threatening the Nittany Lions. But each time, the defense came up with huge turnovers and big stops that kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard for over 58 minutes.
The game was still just 10-0 in favor of the visitors when the two teams came out of the locker rooms after the intermission. Penn State’s offense opened things up in the second half, but the blowout was possible largely because of a stout defensive effort by one of the best units in the entire country.
Entering the game, Penn State had already racked up 14 turnovers in five games. Against Northwestern, the defense piled up another two interceptions and a fumble to eliminate any hope of an upset for the hosts. Standout running back Justin Jackson was held to 89 total yards on 22 touches, and most importantly he was held out of the endzone.
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Already among the top five defenses in the country, Penn State lowered its season averages even further on that side of the ball. In upcoming showdowns against the Wolverines and Buckeyes, the defense will once again be the critical cog that determines whether the Nittany Lions head back to Indianapolis and remain in the College Football Playoff hunt.