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Beaver Stadium | University Park, Pa. | 102,910

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FINAL STATISTICS

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) - Senior linebacker Mike Hull (Canonsburg, Pa.) recorded a career-high 16 tackles, including one for a loss, as Penn State dropped a 29-6 decision to Northwestern. The homecoming contest brought in a season-high 102,910 fans to Beaver Stadium.

With his performance, Hull surpasses his previous personal best of 13 stops set against Illinois on Nov. 2, 2013. Freshman linebacker Jason Cabinda (Flemington, N.J.) finished second on the team with eight tackles in his collegiate debut. Junior defensive end Deion Barnes (Philadelphia, Pa.) added six tackles, including fourth sack of the season.

Senior kicker Sam Ficken (Pasadena, Md.) accounted for all of Penn State's points with a pair of field goals to move him into a tie for fifth place in school history for career field goals with Massimo Manca (1982, 1984-86). Ficken now has 40 career field goals.

Sophomore Christian Hackenberg (Palmyra, Va.) threw for 216 yards for his seventh 200-yard game in his last eight outings. Freshman receiver DaeSean Hamilton (Fredericksburg, Va.) pulled in six passes for 100 yards. His 51-yard reception in the second quarter was a career-long catch. Hamilton has three 100-yard receiving performances in five career games.

The Wildcats drove down to the Penn State 27-yard line, but a personal foul penalty on Northwestern backed the Wildcats up to the Penn State 42. The Nittany Lion defense made three consecutive stops and forced Northwestern into a 44-yard field goal attempt, which went wide right.

After a three-and-out for the Lions, Northwestern's Miles Shuler returned a punt 42 yards to put the Wildcats in prime position to start their next drive at the Penn State 31. On third-and-eight, Trevor Siemian found Mike McHugh for a 28-yard gain to the one-yard line and Siemian ran it in for the score on the next play to put Northwestern up 7-0 with 9:29 left in the first.

Northwestern engineered another drive, going 60 yards in 10 plays for another Siemian touchdown from one-yard out to make it 14-0 Wildcats with 3:59 left in the opening quarter. The Wildcats again started in great field position, taking over at the Penn State 29. Siemian found Mark Stotz for a 22-yard pitch-and-catch to the Penn State 7. The Nittany Lion defense stood tall and stopped the Wildcats on a fake field goal to take over on downs.

Neither team could sustain offensive momentum in the second quarter until Penn State's final drive of the half. Hackenberg led the Lions on a 10-play, 55-yard drive that resulted in a 42-yard field goal by Ficken with five seconds left in the half. Hackenberg threw for 45 yards and rushed for five on the drive. The squads hit the locker room with Penn State trailing 14-3.

After the teams swapped drives to open the second half, Jesse Della Valle (Pittsburgh, Pa.) returned the Northwestern punt 41 yards to the NU 30. Hackenberg found Akeel Lynch (Toronto, Ontario) for 11 yards, which led to a 36-yard field goal by Ficken to cut the deficit to 14-6 with 11:17 left in the third.

On the ensuing Northwestern possession, Adrian Amos (Baltimore, Md.) picked off Siemian's pass deep in Nittany Lion territory to foil the Wildcat drive. Hackenberg opened the drive with a three-yard rush and followed it up with a 29-yard pass to Hamilton to continue the offensive momentum. The Nittany Lions would advance to the Northwestern 35-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs.

The fourth quarter opened with Hackenberg being intercepted by Anthony Walker, who returned it 49 yards for the touchdown. However, the Wildcats missed the extra point to take a 20-6, just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter. On the first play of Penn State's next possession, Hackenberg was sacked and fumbled, which was recovered by Northwestern at the Penn State 15. The Wildcats advanced the ball eight yards and converted on a 23-yard field goal to increase the margin to 23-6 with 13:06 left.

Penn State turned the ball over on downs in their own territory, which led to another rushing touchdown for Siemian. The extra point failed again for the Wildcats, who extended the lead to 29-6 with 7:22 remaining.

The Nittany Lions have a bye next weekend before returning to action at Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN, the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com.

The four-game partial ticket plan and single game also are available by calling 1-800-NITTANY, weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.