Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.

No. 6 Penn State Football takes to the road in Week 5 of the 2023 college football season, aiming to stay undefeated and in the College Football Playoff conversation, as the Nittany Lions take on Northwestern.

Fresh off the emotional high of exacting revenge against Iowa, Penn State Football arrives in Evanston as the only program in the nation that hasn’t lost a turnover, and having scored over 30 points each game to open the season.

Will James Franklin‘s team hold serve, as nearly four-score favorites, against the Wildcats?

Here are our staff predictions for Penn State Football vs. Northwestern:

Robert Casturo – Senior Penn State Football Reporter

Penn State sleepwalks for the first quarter in a low energy stadium in Evanston after the White Out win last weekend. Penn State’s talent gap shows by the half and Penn State cruises to an easy win. Defense continues the streak of multiple turnovers.

Penn State 35 – Northwestern 7

Joe Staszak – Penn State Football Reporter

The Nittany Lions moved up one spot to No 6 in the AP polls after a 31-0 dismantling of Iowa last Saturday.

No doubt head coach James Franklin is making sure that his team isn’t looking past this Saturday’s game at Northwestern. So I’ll do it for them.

The Nits are on a collision course for a possible unbeaten showdown with the No 4 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus on October 21st.

Why am I bringing this up right now? Because Franklin is acutely aware of what could and does happen on any given Saturday.

He is constantly showing his troops clips of Saturday upsets in order to keep them focused on the present.

Right now, the present is playing a Big Ten road game as a 26.5 point favorite over a Northwestern team playing for an interim coaching staff.

Undoubtedly one of the clips that Franklin used as a lesson for his team this week was Northwestern’s upset overtime win over Minnesota last weekend. It was a game that the Wildcats trailed by 21 points entering the 4th quarter.

Here’s a news flash. That’s why they play the game.

But, this Saturday’s game won’t be a a future cautionary tale for others to be learn from.

The Lions have played like a team on a mission this year. It just looks and feels different from other years and other Penn State teams.

Ohio State week is still 16 days away, and this coaching staff will let the team know when they’re allowed to even think about the Buckeyes. Right now it’s all Northwestern, all the time. Nits leave another Big Ten team in their wake.

Penn State 45 – Northwestern 14

<< BUY PENN STATE GEAR >>

Nolan Foster – Penn State Football Reporter

Talk about a dominating performance last weekend for the Penn State whiteout crowd.

A 31-0 victory over a ranked conference opponent was good enough for Penn State to jump in the AP polls. James Franklin and company travel to suburban Chicago this week to take on Northwestern. Northwestern might be the Big Ten surprise team of the year thus far.

Some people even asked if they would win a game after everything that happened right before the season started.

However, Penn State shows how good they are. The offense has yet to connect on all cylinders, but this game is when it happens.

Penn State 62 – Northwestern 10

Chris Snyder – Senior Penn State Wrestling Reporter

Did Northwestern just beat Minnesota in a thrilling overtime win last week 37-34?

Yes.

Will that happen again this Saturday?

No.

About the only thrilling outcome for this mid-western noon kickoff is whether or not the fans at Ryan Field will crack 60 decibels on the sound scale.

Penn State’s defense will once again show out and same goes for the offense. And by “show out”, I mean the offense will be plodding and non-explosive for most of the time.

But it will do just enough.

Penn State 31 – Northwestern 10

David Malandra – Penn State Reporter

This will be the second Road start for quarterback Drew Allar, with the sophomore still getting used to the road crowds. The running game is going to dictate, as Nick Singleton will have 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns one catching one receiving.

Penn State 34 – Northwestern 13

A note to our readers; If you make a purchase through one of our affiliate links, we may receive a commission