First quarter
Northwestern 7, Penn State 0: Wildcats QB Dan Persa marched his team down the field with ease, moving Northwestern 74 yards on just seven plays. Persa, who suffered a reported concussion last week, ran for 31 yards on the first play from scrimmage (defensive end Pete Massaro bit on a fake handoff) and scored on a 7-yard run. He also threw for 31 yards.
Second quarter
Northwestern 14, Penn State 0: Penn State's defense struggled mightily, biting on numerous play fakes and overpursuing, as Northwestern scored on Persa's 4-yard run. A highly questionable personal foul call on Sean Stanley didn't help, but the Nittany Lions couldn't stop Persa, either.
Northwestern 21, Penn State 0: Northwestern wide receiver Drake Dunsmore made a wonderful one-handed leaping catch to put the Wildcats up three TDs. Dunsmore was at the back of the end zone, caught the ball with his right hand and managed to get his foot down for what will likely go down as one of the plays of the season against PSU. Earlier in the drive, safety Drew Astorino was caught anticipating the run on a critical first-down play. When he came up to play the run, Persa tossed a 41-yard pass to Jeremy Ebert that took the Wildcats to Penn State's 25-yard line.
Northwestern 21, Penn State 7: Penn State's offense struggled all half but came through when it needed to the most by driving 91 yards in just 47 seconds against Northwestern's defense. Brett Brackett fully extended in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown catch from Matt McGloin, who also hooked up with Graham Zug and Joe Suhey on a pair of 20-yard receptions. The other long play of the drive was Stephfon Green's 21-yard run on third down.
Third quarter
Northwestern 21, Penn State 14: A touchdown pass to ... Nate Cadogan? It was hard to believe, but Penn State's 6-foot-5, 297-pound offensive tackle/tight end closed out an 84-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass. Penn State's offensive line, specifically on the right side with Stefen Wisniewski and Chima Okoli, gashed the Northwestern defense as the Lions rushed for 66 yards, including three consecutive runs of 11 yards or more.
Northwestern 21, Penn State 21: It appears 47 seconds changed the momentum of the previous 29 minutes in the first half as Penn State tied up the game on McGloin's 36-yard pass to Derek Moye on a streak to end a three-play drive. The two previous plays were an 18-yard pass to Moye and a 9-yard rush by Evan Royster.
Penn State 28, Northwestern 21: Penn State capitalized on a shanked 12-yard punt that gave the Lions the ball at Northwestern's own 41, and Silas Redd's first career touchdown gave PSU its first lead of the day. Royster again had ample running room and broke off a 17-yard run on a draw play on third down to account for the biggest chunk of yardage on the play.
Fourth quarter
Penn State 35, Northwestern 21: Penn State's offensive resurgence continued, this time ending its fifth consecutive drive with a touchdown on a 13-yard screen pass to Royster for McGloin's fourth touchdown pass of the game. Redd added a dazzling 29-yard run, a career long.
(Compiled by Josh Langenbacher)
