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break tackles and make people miss [and get] first downs, opportunities for inter- ceptions, opportunities across the board. … In the end, we weren't able to play winning football at the end of the game like we needed to." Barkley finished with 120 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries and also had 50 receiving yards on six catches, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Nittany Lions from falling to 7-3 and 4-2 in the Big Ten East. Christian Hackenberg began the game by hitting only one of his first 10 passes but ended up with 21 completions on 40 attempts for 210 yards. He had been coming off of big performances against Maryland and Illinois, but Northwestern was determined to avoid giving up the long completions that Hackenberg had hit with regularity in those earlier games. Said Franklin, "They took the philosophy of, 'We're not going to give up the big play, we're going to make you throw the underneath stuff and see if you can do it consistently enough to beat us.' " They didn't do that, and their defense struggled at times, too, allowing running back Justin Jackson to gain 186 yards on 28 carries. As Franklin noted, "We've been really good against the run for a long time. We were not today." But the defense also totaled six sacks and held backup quarterback Zach Oliver, who was filling in for injured starter Clayton Thorson, to 111 passing yards. Most important, the unit kept the game within reach as the offense searched for something – anything – that would work. That search took a while. The Lions went three-and-out on four of their five initial possessions, and their only first down of the opening quarter came when defensive lineman Dean Lowry received a personal foul for slamming Hackenberg to the turf on a third-and-long sack. Before long, Northwestern was able to capitalize on the good field position that Penn State's offensive difficulties helped provide. A 34-yard run by Warren Long on third-and-short set up a 14-yard touchdown catch by Christian Jones early in the second quarter. Eventually, the field possession ceased to matter, as Northwestern went 91 yards in five plays to extend its lead to 13-0, with Oliver scoring on a 1-yard keeper. The Nittany Lions didn't get on the scoreboard until late in the first half. They tried moving Hackenberg around in the pocket on a nine-play, 78-yard drive, and the possession yielded points, with Barkley crashing into the end zone from 7 yards out on a direct snap. But whatever momentum they gener- ated in trimming Northwestern's lead to six points evaporated moments later, as Solomon Vault returned Tyler Davis's kickoff 96 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown and a 20-7 Northwest- ern lead. The play was a huge blow to the Lions' hopes of pulling off a mild upset. Said Franklin, "We've got to cover the kick, and we've got to be able to make the tackle." The comeback began in the third quar- ter with a bizarre drive that included 30 penalty yards on a pair of personal fouls. It ended with Penn State bobbling the exchange in the backfield on a trick play, only to see Geno Lewis pick up the loose ball and heave it to DaeSean Hamilton for a 32-yard touchdown. With their defense holding strong, the Lions took their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter, as Barkley scored his second touchdown from out of the wildcat formation, this one covering 13 yards. But it wasn't enough. The Wildcats' final drive covered 36 yards, with more than half coming when Carr got lost in man coverage for his big gain to the Penn State 36. "Obviously, in that situation, you look back aBerward and you second guess and say we should have been in zone," Franklin said. "But the man cov- erage and pressure had been really good to us up to that point." Next up for Penn State: a bye week, fol- lowed by back-to-back games against two of the conference's better teams, Michigan and Michigan State. The Lions are one of only three Big Ten teams that have not yet had a bye, and aBer the dis- appointing end to their aBernoon in Evanston, they will no doubt appreciate the opportunity to rest and heal up. But in other respects, the timing is far from ideal. "You're always frustrated aBer a loss," Franklin said. "You would love to go into a bye on a positive note and get healthy. The bye is coming late in the season, but we're going to take it. There's no doubt you'd rather go into a bye with a win and feel good heading into those last two games. But our guys bounce back. Guys are resilient. We'll come in on Sunday and have our normal practice and go Tuesday and Wednesday and go from there." SCORING SUMMARY 2ND 12:56 NU Jones, C. 14-yard pass from Oliver, Zack (Mitchell, Jack kick) 5 plays, 59 yards, TOP 1:57.......................................................... 0-7 6:00 NU Oliver, Zack 1-yard run (Mitchell, Jack kick failed) 5 plays, 91 yards, TOP 1:54........................................................ 0-13 2:18 PSU Barkley, Saquon 7-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 3:35........................................................7-13 2:04 NU Vault, S. 96-yard kickoff return (Mitchell, Jack kick)......... 7-20 3RD 5:04 PSU Hamilton, D. 32-yard pass from Lewis, G. (Davis, T. kick) 5 plays, 70 yards, TOP 1:33..................................................... 14-20 4TH 12:22 PSU Barkley, Saquon 13-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 5 plays, 71 yards, TOP 1:39...................................................... 21-20 0:09 NU Mitchell, Jack 35-yard field goal 10 plays, 36 yards, TOP 2:04...................................................21-23 N O V E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 2

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