Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/388513
But, really, that's when it all fell apart, as Northwestern rolled in the fourth quarter to a 29-6 victory. Hackenberg turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions in his team's own territory. Penn State already had two come-from-behind victories this sea- son, but that costly interception that went for a touchdown and ensuing fum- ble spoiled any comeback chance it might have had. "You can only [come from behind] so many times," head coach James Franklin said. "It's going to come back to haunt you. You've got to be able to play all four quarters. You've got to start strong and establish the run game and protect the quarterback. We've been able to get by with playing hard, playing with heart and persevering. Let's be honest. We haven't played pretty all year long, and it caught up to us today." Establishing the run and protecting the quarterback proved to be especially diffi- cult for Penn State. Hackenberg was sacked four times and had pressure in his face nearly the entire game. Meanwhile the running backs combined for just 45 yards on the ground. The Wildcats, on the other hand, stormed out of the gates in the opening two drives, producing 140 yards of total offense, compared to Penn State's 10 over the same duration. Although they missed a field goal on their first posses- sion, quarterback Trevor Siemian punched in a 1-yard touchdown run on the next. Northwestern jumped out to a 14-0 lead a@er its third drive. Meanwhile, it took nearly 30 minutes for the Nittany Lions to put points on the board. In fact, only five seconds remained before half- time when Sam Ficken's 42-yard field goal went through the uprights for PSU's first score. Otherwise, Northwestern's defense forced Penn State to punt on its first five drives. On the sixth drive, it appeared as if the Lions had finally found a rhythm. They gained four first downs and drove to Northwestern's 14. Then, to go along with the theme of Penn State's first half, the drive stalled. The coaches called in Ficken for the kick, but his attempt was blocked as the ball dribbled into the end zone for a North- western touchback. "It was a great opportunity to grab mo- mentum," Franklin said. "We just weren't able to do it." PSU began the second half with the football and quickly picked up where it le@ off, going three-and-out on its first possession. The defense, however, began to buckle down from its first-quarter lapse. A@er forcing a punt on the opening drive, Penn State regained possession at Northwestern's 30, following a career- long 41-yard punt return by Jesse Della Valle. But, three incomplete passes later, Penn State was forced to settle for a field goal. That would be its last points of the game. Adrian Amos came up with a big inter- ception in PSU territory to prevent a Northwestern score on the next drive, but, again, Penn State wasn't able to cap- italize. Angelo Mangiro was called for a false start on the next offensive play, which set the tone for a drive that ended on a failed fourth-down conversion. Even so, trailing by only a touchdown and a two-point conversion entering the fourth quarter, it appeared as if Penn State could still knot the score. But on the first play of the quarter, Hackenberg threw an ill-advised pass di- rectly into the chest of Anthony Walker, who intercepted it and returned it for a Northwestern touchdown. Although Jack Mitchell missed the extra point, the pick-six built Northwestern's lead to 20- 6. PSU got the ball back a@er the kickoff to give it another shot, but on its first play, Xavier Washington smacked Hack- enberg for the sack and knocked the ball loose. Connor Mahoney recovered the fumble, giving Northwestern the ball at PSU's 15. The defense posted another stand, holding Northwestern to a field goal. But three points was all Northwestern needed in order to make it a three-pos- session ball game and essentially put it out of reach with 13 minutes remaining. But it wasn't done. A@er stopping Penn State on downs at its own 30-yard line with 11 minutes le@, Northwestern put up another TD as Siemian rushed it in again from 1 yard out. Mitchell missed the extra point again, but by that time, it was moot. Asked a@er the game if the loss was any more painful than any of the four losses that he had suffered last season, consid- ering the offense failed to score a touch- down, Hackenberg, who finished the day with 216 yards passing and an intercep- tion, offered a simple explanation. "No loss feels worse than the other," he said. "They all suck." SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 9:29 NU Siemian, Trevor 1-yard run (Mitchell, Jack kick) 4 plays, 31 yards, TOP 1:27........................................................................ 7-0 4:38 NU Siemian, Trevor 1-yard run (Mitchell, Jack kick) 10 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:52.................................................................... 14-0 2ND 0:05 PSU Ficken, Sam 42-yard field goal 10 plays, 55 yards, TOP 1:23.................................................................... 14-3 3RD 11:17 PSU Ficken, Sam 36-yard field goal 5 plays, 11 yards, TOP 0:38...................................................................... 14-6 4TH 14:49 NU Walker, Anthony 49-yard interception return (Mitchell, Jack kick failed)....20-6 13:06 NU Mitchell, Jack 23-yard field goal 4 plays, 8 yards, TOP 1:36........................................................................ 23-6 7:22 NU Siemian, Trevor 1-yard run (Mitchell, Jack kick failed) 7 plays, 28 yards, TOP 3:55...................................................................... 29-6 S E P T E M B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 4 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2