In Northwestern, Penn State’s ground game has yet another great chance to run it up. Here’s why

Sean Clifford was less than satisfied after his undefeated Penn State team beat Central Michigan last week. The 33-14 final score didn’t paint the full picture of a team that hit a second-quarter wall offensively and later allowed two touchdowns that got called back for penalties.

“I’m happy with the win,” the sixth-year quarterback said, “but we have a lot to clean up.”

The Nittany Lions (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) were tabbed the 11th-best team in college football in the latest Associated Press poll, boasting one of the best defenses in the Big Ten and two overachieving freshman running backs.

Before heading into a bye week, Penn State has a chance to do some cleaning as a 25.5-point home favorite in a 3:30 p.m. Saturday game against Northwestern (1-3, 1-0), which has lost its last three games to Duke, Southern Illinois, and Miami (Ohio).

» READ MORE: Here's how to play the over/under in Northwestern vs. Penn State

Penn State has three straight games with 100-plus-yard rushing performances from freshmen. Nick Singleton led the way against Ohio and Auburn. The Central Michigan game was Kaytron Allen’s turn.

Northwestern offers a chance to make it four straight. The Wildcats have allowed 160.8 rushing yards per game from opposing teams and eight rushing touchdowns; both rank second worst in the Big Ten.

It’s tough to find a weak spot in Penn State’s secondary, which leads the nation in pass breakups with 41. Illinois and Pittsburgh are tied for second with 25 apiece.

Joey Porter Jr. leads the group with nine PBUs and has a fumble recovery. Zakee Wheatley had two interceptions and Johnny Dixon and Ji’Ayir Brown each have one. Brown leads the Nittany Lions in solo tackles, with 16.

Keep tabs on whether the defensive backs maintain their high level of play against Northwestern’s Ryan Hilinski, who ranks 16th among FBS quarterbacks in passing yards.

Saturday will mark the 20th time the Nittany Lions and Wildcats have squared off. Penn State has won seven of the last nine and holds a 14-5 all-time advantage. The last time these two teams played was 2017, when Penn State won, 31-7, at Northwestern. Saquon Barkley rushed for two scores and Trace McSorley added two more – one through the air and one on the ground.

“I think the diversity [in our opponents] has been huge. Each game we’ve played, we’ve come in with a bunch of respect for our opponents’ schemes. They’ve shown us a lot of different things in four games – passing attacks, running attacks, gap scheme zones, all different kinds of man beaters and zone beaters – whatever it can be. All that will definitely pay off for us down the line. Going into games having seen a lot of different things already, it’s only going to help us.” – Tyler Elsdon, sophomore linebacker

After the bye week following Northwestern, Penn State begins the gauntlet of ranked Big Ten teams, starting with a visit to No. 4 Michigan on Oct. 15 (time, TV, TBD), followed by home games against No. 21 Minnesota and No. 3 Ohio State.

» READ MORE: Check out the favorite Philly-focused parlays of the weekend