The good, the bad and the weird - Penn State vs. Northwestern edition

Sunday, 07 October 2012 12:55

Written by Mark Dent

Well, that was a great game on Saturday. In my opinion, the most thrilling game of the year, more so than even the Virginia-Penn State game. Here's a final rundown of the highlights and lowlights.

The Good

Penn State: Just going to give an overall high score for the team. The offense displayed poise and balance, with Zach Zwinak rushing for more than 100 yards again and Matt McGloin threw for 282 yards and no interceptions. He had 51 (!) pass atttempts. The defense turned in its best effort of the year, forcing Northwestern into six three-and-outs, including four to start the game and set the tone. Most of all, the team came back. As players mentioned, they didn't do that against Virginia and Ohio. They had failed to win the close, tough games. For a team that talked so much about perseverance and adversity, those games did not fit with the message. Now, Penn State has proven it has guts with a victory against Northwestern.

Big Ten Division title chances: Seriously, it's very possible. The Big Ten season is still young, but we know the conference is way down this year. If Penn State takes care of business against Iowa (a team that lost to Central Michigan), the Ohio State game, at home, looms as a true showdown. A victory at Nebraska will be tough, and Purdue has improved, but otherwise the rest of Penn State' schedule is favorable with the toughest teams coming to Happy Valley.

The crowd: Best crowd of the season at Beaver Stadium, no doubt. It was small for a homecoming game at 95K-plus, but everyone was loud. The crowd really played off the excitement of the second half, and Penn State played off the noise as well. Because the game was tight to the end, everyone stayed, making the alma mater at the end sound particularly special.  

The Bad

Special teams: Sam Ficken made his one field goal attempt, so that was good. Alex Butterworth punted longer than he had all season (aside from one shank), so that was good. But overall, special teams almost caused Penn State to lose this game, which is saying something given the dominance Penn State displayed on defense and offense. The mishaps began in the second quarter when punt returner Jesse Della Valle muffed a punt, giving Northwestern the ball inside the 20 and leading to its first touchdown. In the late third quarter, the insanely fast Venric Mark scored on a 75-yard punt return. Fourteen of Northwestern's 28 points basically came because of poor special teams play. It has been an issue in some form for Penn State all season, and we'll see what kind of progress Penn State can make in the final six games.

The Weird

The season is halfway over: This year has gone by in a flash. It seems like a couple of weeks ago that Sam Ficken was missing all those field goals in the loss to Virginia. In that sense, Penn State's resurgence has been rapid. The only negative thing, for the team and Penn State fans, is that we can definitively say the season is halfway over. There is nothing beyond late November, a strange aspect for a competitive football team. I'm interested to see how well the players can keep their intensity level in the season's second half. If the Northwestern game is any indication, I think they'll be fine.