Penn State readies to bring its ‘own juice’ on the road against Big Ten foe Northwestern

Penn State enjoyed White Out conditions nearly a week ago. Now, it’s a trip back to Illinois to face Northwestern on Saturday.

Last week was supposed to be No. 6 Penn State’s first test of the season against Iowa, a team ranked No. 24 at the time. The test was delayed, as the then-No. 7 Nittany Lions stomped the Hawkeyes, 31-0.

The team hasn’t been in a close game yet this season, as the lowest margin of victory they’ve won was on the road against Illinois to open Big Ten play, beating Illinois, 30-13.

Penn State as a whole has been clicking on all cylinders so far in 2023. Through its first four games, Penn State leads the Big Ten with 40.5 points per game, is third in the conference with 8.8 points allowed per game, and is the only team in the country that hasn’t lost a turnover.

On the other hand, the Wildcats are entering Saturday’s game fresh off of a 21-point comeback against Minnesota last week.

“You think about how Minnesota likes to play, you would never say that [Northwestern] would win that game, based on Minnesota’s style of play,” Franklin said Tuesday. “But they found a way, which was impressive to watch.”

» READ MORE: A big part of Penn State's coaching approach this season? Patience.

Since being crowned as the 2020 Big Ten West champions, Northwestern has only won six games, including a 1-11 finish last season.

The Wildcats (2-2) are already above their 2022 win total and are looking to defend home turf.

“You look at Northwestern, they’ve typically had good home records. Why? Because it can be challenging to play there,” Franklin said. “They’re used to the environment other people may not be. It’s gonna be very different than what we played in last week.”

Penn State played under the lights in front of 110,830 people last week, but it’ll only play in front of a fraction of that at Ryan Field.

In the Wildcats’ first two home games against UTEP and Minnesota, their average attendance has been around 17,500 people. For reference, Northwestern’s stadium can hold 47,130 people at maximum capacity.

The Nittany Lions aren’t necessarily walking into a hostile environment, but one that hasn’t passed 50% capacity all season. While it may be a blessing not to have 100,000 people screaming at them, Penn State is focused on bringing their own energy on Saturday.

“It’s obviously different. But we got to go in with our own juice,” wide receiver Liam Clifford said. “We were going to play every week the same, we just got to bring energy on the sideline.”

To prepare for Northwestern’s environment or rather lack of one, Franklin turned down Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” which is usually blasted at the end of practice and before home games to fire up the players.

“The music always brings a little bit more extra energy, but no music kind of forces you to figure out a way to bring energy within your group, or within the offense or defense, whatever it may be,” Clifford said. “I like the idea.”

Franklin named seven offensive linemen — Olu Fashanu, Hunter Nourzad, Caedan Wallace, Sal Wormley, JB Nelson, Vega Ioane, and Drew Shelton — as Penn State’s offensive players of the game against Iowa.

Two weeks ago, Nourzad was named as the Nittany Lions’ offensive player of the week.

The seven offensive linemen that Franklin and the rest of the coaching staff nominated are considered the “starters” of the group. Franklin said that the offensive player(s) of the week isn’t a participation trophy, but something that’s awarded after breaking down the film from each game.

“With the weekly awards, it’s not like we’re trying to spread the wealth or build confidence or any of those things,” Franklin said. “We just grade the tape and give it to the group or the guy that we think is most deserving.”

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