I could give you a play-by-play or a drive-by-drive breakdown of tonight, but what use would it be? This game was a total ass kicking, one that Penn State hasn’t felt in quite some time. And it wasn’t at the hands of Ohio State or Michigan or Oregon or USC — it was Northwestern.
Penn State’s defense, which stood on its head for much of the game against Wisconsin, played terribly. The run defense was nonexistent, with Northwestern running for 413 yards on 7.5 yards-per-carry. Numbers not given up by a Penn State defense since the 2022 Michigan game, and again, that is Michigan. This is Northwestern.
I don’t mean that as a slight to Northwestern, although I’m sure it comes off as that. This squad gave Indiana everything it could handle last Friday, and who knows, maybe it’s a team that can go 8-4. But make no mistake, this isn’t a Wildcats program that is going to the College Football Playoff, and they made the Nittany Lions look like a MAC squad.
The failure falls on everyone. Matt Campbell. Taylor Mouser. D’Anton Lynn. Rocco Becht. Pat Kraft. All of those people are getting paid *millions* of dollars and the result right now is an embarrasment to the Penn State football program.
Matt Campbell this week preached about the “process.” Well, tonight’s process sucked. Totally sucked. I don’t mean to do the sports radio hot take thing, but this isn’t Iowa State, Matt. You can’t follow up that collapse against Wisconsin with a performance like *this* against Northwestern. And now, with USC and Michigan next up, this program is looking squarely at a 3-4 record heading into Halloween weekend.
