UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 11/12 Penn State welcomes Northwestern to Beaver Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. The 2022 Penn State football season is presented by PSECU.
SERIES HISTORY: Penn State meets Northwestern for the 20th time in program history. The Nittany Lions hold a 14-5 lead in the series and have won seven of the last nine matchups. In 2017, Penn State earned a 31-7 win in Evanston. Saquon Barkley scored on runs of 1 and 53 yards, while Trace McSorley accounted for both a passing and rushing touchdown. Penn State held Northwestern to 67 rushing yards and Shaka Toney recorded two sacks.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL: In last Saturday's win over Central Michigan, Penn State recorded two interceptions and 13 pass breakups. Johnny Dixon notched his first interception at Penn State and Zakee Wheatley picked off a pass for the second-straight game. Penn State tallied double-digit pass breakups in a game for the second time this season, joining their 16 breakups at Purdue. The Nittany Lions lead the country with 41 pass breakups in 2022, a 16-breakups lead ahead of second.
STRANGE MAKING PLAYS: Tight end Brenton Strange has had a strong start to the 2022 season. Strange earned his first career multi-touchdown reception game against Central Michigan, hauling in 4 and 3-yard scores. He ranks sixth among FBS tight ends with 211 receiving yards, while leading Penn State with 15.1 yards per reception and tying for the team lead with three receiving touchdowns.
AMOR PLACING PUNTS: Penn State redshirt senior Barney Amor landed three punts inside the 10 against Central Michigan, dropping punts at the CMU 3, 10 and 6. Amor ranks second among FBS punters with nine punts inside the 10 this season and is tied sixth in the FBS with 10 punts inside the 20.
THE OPPOSITION: Northwestern is 1-3 this season. The Wildcats began the year with a 31-28 conference win over Nebraska. Last Saturday, Northwestern fell 17-14 against Miami (Ohio). Ryan Hilinski threw for 232 yards and scored on a 1-yard rush. Cam Porter added a 2-yard rushing score. Cameron Mitchell recorded a strip-sack, while Bryce Gallagher (13) and Coco Azema (10) both had double-digit tackles.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 41: Penn State leads the nation with 41 pass breakups.
- 11: Eleven Nittany Lions have recorded at least 1.0 tackles for loss this season
- +8: The Nittany Lions own a plus-eight turnover margin and has forced four takeaways in each of the last two games.
- 3 x 14: Against Central Michigan, Sean Clifford earned his 14th career game with three or more touchdown passes.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
- Northwestern is led by head coach Pat Fitzgerald, in his 17th year as head coach.
- Fitzgerald has a 110-93 record as a head coach and is one of 24 FBS coaches with 100 career wins.
- Fitzgerald was the consensus Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2018 and the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year in 2020, leading Northwestern to Big Ten West titles in both seasons.
- He has spent 22 of his 25 years as a collegiate coach with the Wildcats. He was defensive backs coach in 2001, coached linebackers from 2002-05 and was hired as head coach in 2006.
- As a player in 1995, Fitzgerald led the Wildcats to the Big Ten Championship and Rose Bowl.
- Northwestern is 1-3 this season.
- The Wildcats opened the 2022 campaign with a 31-28 win over Nebraska, in Ireland.
- All three of Northwestern's losses have been by one possession (23-31 vs. Duke, 24-31 vs. Southern Illinois and 14-17 vs. Miami (Ohio)).
- Last Saturday, Northwestern fell against Miami (Ohio).
- QB Ryan Hilinski threw for 232 yards and scored on a 1-yard run. RB Cam Porter added a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
- Cameron Mitchell had a strip-sack, Bryce Gallagher recorded 13 tackles and Coco Azema made 10 stops.
- RB Evan Hull leads the nation averaging 181.0 all-purpose yards per game, including 92.5 rushing yards and 77.8 receiving yards per contest.
- Hilinski ranks fourth in the country (second in the Big Ten) averaging 28.5 completions per game. He also sits 16th in the nation in passing yards (1,194) and 17th in passing yards per game (298.5).
- Gallagher leads the Big Ten averaging 5.8 solo tackles per game, while Azema sits second averaging 5.3.
- LB Xander Mueller is tied second in the Big Ten with two interceptions.
- P Luke Akers is averaging 41.8 yards per punt, ranking seventh in the conference.
CENTRAL MICHIGAN NOTES
- Penn State is 2-0 all-time against Central Michigan.
- The Nittany Lions are 32-2 all-time against MAC opponents.
- Penn State has scored 30+ points in four straight games to start the season for the first time since 2018 (45 vs. Appalachian State, 51 at Pittsburgh, 63 vs. Kent State, 63 at Illinois).
- With RB Kaytron Allen's 111-yard rushing performance, Penn State has had two true freshmen running backs post 100-yard games in a single season for the first time since 2019, when Devyn Ford (once) and Noah Cain (twice) each eclipsed the 100-yard plateau.
- Penn State forced four opponent turnovers for the second consecutive game, the first time that the Nittany Lions have forced at least four turnovers in two straight games since forcing four by both Virginia and Navy early in the 2012 season.
- The Nittany Lions recorded two interceptions, including one each by S Zakee Wheatley and CB Johnny Dixon and two fumble recoveries, by LB Curtis Jacobs and CB Kalen King, marking the second-straight game where Penn State has forced four turnovers.
- Penn State registered 9 pass breakups in the first half and 13 in the game.
- The Nittany Lions recorded double-digit pass breakups in a game for the second time this season. Penn State had 16 pass breakups at Purdue.
- P Barney Amor landed three punts inside the 10.