After another dominant victory in Beaver Stadium, Penn State hits the road again. Friday night they’ll head, surprisingly enough, northwest to take on the Northwestern Wildcats.

As the second away game of the season, Penn State fans might be a bit nervous. Seeing how close the game at Iowa was, it’s hard to blame them. Good news is that Northwestern haven’t been on quite the same level as the Hawkeyes in Kinnick Stadium at night.

By the Numbers

A quick look at the way the numbers match up between the two teams shows a clear advantage for the Nittany Lions. The three biggest team stats to look at are Points Per Game, Points Allowed Per Game and Yards Allowed.

Penn State takes the advantage in PPG, putting up 41.4 to Northwestern’s 30.3 this season. Yes, Penn State has played some easy teams at the beginning of the season, but the team has put up at least 30 in 11 of their last 12 games dating back to last year. Eight of those twelve had scores of at least 40.

The defensive numbers are a much wider gap. Penn State has yet to give up 20 points in a game this season. They’ve also failed to give up a single point in the first quarter, outscoring opponents 73-0 right off the bat.

The one slight criticism of the Nittany Lion defense is their yards allowed stat. Opponents like Iowa have been able to move down the field, just not find pay dirt. Even so, Penn State has given up nearly 100 fewer yards per game than Northwestern. Penn State leads 289.2 to 384.3 in that category.

Players to Watch

Saquon Barkley, Penn State Running Back

It’s almost cheating to put Barkley on a ‘Players to Watch’ list. I mean, no duh, right? The clear Heisman front-runner can do it all. He leads the team in seemingly every category including passing, kickoff returning, scoring, and even passing efficiency (by over 400). What else is there to say?

Justin Jackson, Northwestern Running Back

Barkley’s purple-clad counterpart, Justin Jackson is one of the biggest threats on the Wildcats. Totaling over 1000 yards each of this first three years, including a 1524 season last year, Jackson is an experienced back in this offense. He’s probable for the game on Saturday with a leg injury, and if he plays he’ll be likely to continue his 4.3 yards per carry form.

Shareef Miller, Penn State Defensive End

Since Torrence Brown went down with his knee injury, Shareef Miller has stepped up big-time. In five games he has 16 tackles, six tackles for loss, two sacks and a safety. Still wearing Brown’s number 19, Miller will continue to strike fear into offenses. Northwestern’s offensive line has struggled this season anyways, allowing eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss last week against Wisconsin. The Wildcats’ 15 sacks allowed this season leads the Big Ten.

Clayton Thorson, Northwestern Quarterback

Despite the 2-2 record and one fewer game, Thorson has put up some nice numbers. A 64 percent pass completion percentage with 1061 yards, 7 TD and 4 INT isn’t something to laugh at. When you consider the offensive line Thorson has in front of him, it’s quite impressive really. Penn State’s secondary is going to have to keep up their play if they want to keep Thorson under 250 yards through the air.

Prediction

Penn State will keep Northwestern from the endzone, just like they have with every other team. The Nittany Lion offense will continue to find the endzone early and often. All-in-all, the Lions prove their dominance over the Cats, 45-14.

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