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Talk about being the perfect Friday night guest.
Penn State arrived as the first visiting team at Ryan Field, Northwestern's new $850 million stadium, and the Nittany Lions can't be accused of coming empty handed.
Instead, they were bearing gifts.
They brought a defense that was either unable or unwilling to actually tackle as the Wildcats ran through and around the Nits and put the game away at halftime.
They brought an offense that has no running game, an overrated quarterback and receivers who, minus Koby Howard, don't gain separation.
And, behind their backs, they had still another surprise -- their special teams.
It added up to a humiliating 34-13 loss, which dropped the Lions to 0-2 in the Big Ten and officially cast a pall over the early stages of Matt Campbell's regime.
After blowing a 17-0 lead and losing to Wisconsin 24-20 last week, there was plenty of second-guessing of Campbell.
When asked on Wednesday what he would say to Penn State fans who, writer Mike Poorman suggested, were "on the ledge," Campbell forced a smile and said, "I do not know what I can say, other than do."
They obviously didn't "do" in Evanston, and what began as a promising time under a new staff -- one the Nittany Nation was optimistic about in the aftermath of James Franklin's tenure -- has quickly taken a wrong turn.
Where it leads is anybody's guess, but, at the moment, there is no light at the end of this tunnel.
The Lions face Southern Cal in their annual White Out game on Saturday night -- plenty of tickets remain -- followed by a trip to Michigan.
Neither of those teams are without flaws, but the Nits' two-game body of work makes a four-game losing streak and ultimately a losing season quite possible.
Campbell's experiment of loading up his roster with 24 Iowa State transfers has already backfired.
Friday night, the Lions didn't look like they could beat anybody. They were outrushed 413-48 -- an unheard of statistic.
Their offensive and defensive lines were physically dominated.
Campbell admitted as much afterward.
"The game is always going to be won on the line of scrimmage," he said. "On both sides of the ball, we played nowhere near what we're capable and nowhere near the standard of what we expect to play."
The situation was so dire that defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn came down from the press box - where he coached the first four games - to the sidelines in the second half.
It surely couldn't have looked any better from down there.
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.