Rainy day feeling
Nittany Lions hold on against pesky Wildcats in ugly weather
Penn State’s defense proved to be a bunch of mudders against Northwestern on Saturday at rain-drenched Beaver Stadium.
The offense, on the other hand, handled the football like a bar of wet soap.
The 11th-ranked Nittany Lions held on to beat the Wildcats 17-7 in their Big Ten home opener largely because of the defense.
With Penn State (2-0, 5-0) committing five turnovers, including four fumbles by three running backs, the defense held Northwestern (1-1, 1-4) to a meager 8 yards after those giveaways.
Hakeem Beamon, a tackle, broke up passes on third and fourth down to end one Wildcats drive in the fourth quarter and cornerback Johnny Dixon later broke up a fourth-down pass with 5:30 left.
Defensive tackle PJ Mustipher had the biggest stop, however, stuffing quarterback Ryan Hilinski for no gain on fourth-and-goal from the 1 early in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Nick Singleton, the former Gov. Mifflin star, carried 21 times for 87 yards and one touchdown, but he lost two fumbles in the first half. Classmate Kaytron Allen did not play in the first half, but he finished with 86 yards on 21 rushes and lost a fumble in the fourth quarter.
Sean Clifford completed 10-of-20 passes for 140 yards and one TD with one interception, but he was just 2 of his last 9.
Northwestern committed three turnovers and had only 86 total yards until mounting its only scoring drive late in the third quarter. Hilinski was 15-for-37 for 210 yards and one touchdown, a 47-yard strike to Jacob Gill late in the third quarter.
Penn State built a 14-0 lead in the first half on Clifford’s 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brenton Strange in the first quarter and Singleton’s 2-yard run in the second.
Singleton, getting his second consecutive start, carried 17 times for 76 yards in the first half, but lost two fumbles in the miserable conditions. He lost the football on the Lions’ first series, but officials ruled that his progress had been stopped.
Each team had three turnovers in the first half. Clifford missed Harrison Wallace III by a lot in the first quarter on a pass that was picked off by linebacker Bryce Gallagher at the Penn State 42.
The Lions defense produced three takeaways, an interception by Ji’Ayir Brown inside the Penn State 30 in the first quarter and fumble recoveries by Nick Tarburton and Curtis Jacobs. Tarburton recovered Hilinksi’s fumbled snap at the Northwestern 45 in the second quarter. The Lions converted that turnover into a touchdown seven plays later on Singleton’s run.