Penn State takes a page from the Eagles’ playbook fueling a 41-13 rout of Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. — Drew Allar’s quarterback sneak from 1 yard out in the third quarter gave No. 6 Penn State its first lead of the game en route to a 41-13 victory over Northwestern after a dormant first half.

But it was the way the Nittany Lions took the lead that had an all-too-familiar look to it, especially if you’re an Eagles fan.

On the Nittany Lions’ first drive of the second half, they ran 12 plays before finding pay dirt on the fourth-and-1 sneak. It was the same method of success the Eagles have seemingly made popular. The 17-10 lead was the first of the game for the Nittany Lions (5-0, 3-0 Big Ten).

Penn State’s defense held the lead and set up its offense on back-to-back drives following the touchdown to open the second half, allowing the offense to thrive.

“I thought when we were able to get them off schedule on first down, then they had a hard time with our pass rush,” said head coach James Franklin. “That really showed up in the second half.”

Northwestern (2-3, 1-2) tried its own sneak attempt on fourth-and-1, but quarterback Ben Bryant was stopped at his own 31-yard line, resulting in an Alex Felkins 47-yard field goal. On the next drive, the Wildcats faked a punt, but true freshman Zion Tracy ended their hopes of conversion.

Allar found Nick Singleton on a 2-yard play-action pass after the failed fake punt, with the drive starting at Northwestern’s 34-yard line.

Allar didn’t have the most productive game, completing 18 of 33 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown. There were several occasions where Allar and his receivers looked out of sync.

By the time the third quarter ended, Penn State led, 27-10.

It wasn’t a pretty start for Penn State, as Singleton lost a fumble on the opening kickoff, which put Northwestern in field goal position. The fumble was the Nittany Lions’ first turnover of the season.

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“Obviously, starting with a fumble on a kickoff return, not how you want to start the game,” Franklin said. “Not only that, we put the ball on the ground three times and it just messed with our offense’s flow.”

Northwestern led, 10-3, with only a couple minutes left before halftime until a 13-yard run from Trey Potts tied the game, 10-10.

“Trey stepped up big time. He’s that type of player, man,” Singleton said of Potts, a transfer from Minnesota. “He’s going to come in, step up, and make an impact for this team, which he did today, so I’m very proud of him.”

Besides Northwestern’s one TD drive, Penn State’s defense stifled Northwestern’s offense. The defense recorded seven sacks and, after the initial possession, held the Wildcats out of the end zone.

Singleton led all rushers with 80 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, but part of that was due to Kaytron Allen being sidelined for the second half due to injury. Singleton also caught six passes for 39 yards and another touchdown.

On the opposite side of the football, Bryant finished 14-of-25 for 122 yards, before going down with an injury.

Penn State received more good fortune in the fourth quarter after Northwestern shanked a punt for 22 yards, giving the Nittany Lions the ball in Wildcat territory.

Just 12 plays later, Singleton scored from 1 yard out to put Penn State over 30 points for an FBS-best 12 straight games.

“We talked to each other in the locker room talking about, ‘We got to stick to the game plan,’ ” Singleton said. “‘[We got to] keep moving the ball down the field because they’ll get tired eventually,’ which they did.”

With Bryant injured in the fourth quarter, Northwestern turned to backup QB Brendan Sullivan.

As the clock wound down, Sullivan was intercepted by Nittany Lion cornerback Daequan Hardy, who returned it to the Wildcats’ 30.

On the very next play, Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula found Potts wide open in the middle of the field for a 30-yard TD reception, extending the lead to 41-13.

“[It was] definitely not as clean as I would’ve liked, especially in the beginning,” Allar said. “[I] just missed some easy throws, footwork was a little bit off on a couple.”

Penn State enjoys a week off before its final non-conference game of the season when Massachusetts visits Beaver Stadium on Oct. 14 (3:30 p.m., TV TBD), followed by the Nittany Lions’ last meeting against Ohio State until the 2025 season on Oct. 21. Time and TV is still to be determined.

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