Northwestern Runs Past Penn State, 34-13

Tagged under: Gameday Hub, News, Penn State, Pennsylvania Colleges

Jacob Steinberg | October 3, 2026

Penn State traveled to Northwestern on Friday night looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season, but instead the Wildcats ran all over the Nittany Lions in a 34-13 win to open the new Ryan Field.

Penn State entered Friday night needing a response.

Instead, the Nittany Lions may have left Evanston with more questions than they came with.

Northwestern rushed for an unbelievable 413 yards, more than tripling the 113 rushing yards per game Penn State was allowing entering the night. Caleb Komolafe finished with 188 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, while Joseph Himon II added 162 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 attempts. Northwestern finished with more than 500 yards of total offense.

For a Penn State defense that looked like the strength of this team through the first four weeks, Friday night was a complete flip. After the game, head coach Matt Campbell ripped his team apart:

I think the frustrating thing for me is the standard of what this program plays football with, the attitude, the effort, the toughness- we lacked it in every way, shape and form tonight.

Northwestern wasted little time finding the scoreboard.

The Wildcats moved the ball on the ground throughout their opening possession, but Tony Rojas came up with a nine-yard sack of quarterback Aidan Chiles on third down. Jackson Kleather drilled a 50-yard field goal to give Northwestern an early 3-0 lead.

Penn State showed some life on its opening drive. Rocco Becht found Chase Sowell for a 26-yard gain, but the drive quickly stalled and Nathan Tiyce was forced to punt. This became a reoccurring theme throughout the night.

On Northwestern’s next possession, Himon exploded through the Penn State defense for 47-yards, setting up the Wildcats deep inside Nittany Lion territory. Northwestern eventually found the end zone with Chiles rushing in to extend its advantage to 10-0.

Following the teams third punt, Nittany Lion freshman Josiah Zayas recovered a Northwestern fumble at the Wildcats’ 34-yard line, giving Penn State excellent field position..

Carson Hansen finished the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run, cutting the Northwestern lead to 10-7 with 10:39 remaining in the second quarter.

The Wildcats responded with explosive runs and quickly pushed the lead back to double digits. Penn State followed with a three-and-out, continuing an offensive struggle that carried over from the Wisconsin loss.

Northwestern struck again before halftime, using just two plays to find the end zone and make it 24-7. Penn State had one final opportunity to get points before the break, but Ryan Barker missed a 45-yard field goal.

The kicker is now seven-for-nine of field goals this season.

Penn State entered halftime down 24-7.

The biggest trend was that Northwestern had 237-first half rushing yards.

They came in averaging around 146 yards on the ground. Here, they doubled it in one half.

Another note was that defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn moved from the booth to the sideline for the second half as Penn State tried to find an answer. The Nittany Lions used more five-man fronts, but the changes did little to slow Northwestern down.

Penn State’s defense did come up with a fourth-down stop at its own 16-yard line early in the third quarter. Kooper Ebel broke up the pass, giving the offense another opportunity to cut into the deficit.

Just like against Wisconsin, Penn State could not take advantage.

The Nittany Lions crossed midfield but came away empty-handed.

Northwestern continued pounding the football and eventually added another one-yard rushing touchdown with 1:13 remaining in the third quarter.

The home team led it 31-7.

Things got even worse on the first play of the fourth quarter when Becht threw an interception near midfield. Northwestern missed a 50-yard field goal, giving Penn State another opportunity.

Becht finally put together Penn State’s best offensive drive of the second half, finding Sowell for a 16-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, making it 31-13. Northwestern later added a 37-yard field goal to finish off the 34-13 victory.

Becht finished 26-of-41 for 243 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Sowell led Penn State with five catches for 68-yards and a touchdown, while Brett Eskildsen caught six passes for 45-yards. Benjamin Brahmer added five receptions for 45 yards, and Andrew Rappleyea tied a career-high with five catches.

The passing attack looked fine. The rushing game was near nonexistent.

After entering the week still searching for a running back to “grab a stranglehold” of the starting job, as Campbell put it earlier in the week, the Nittany Lions finished with only 48 rushing yards as a team.

Hansen led Penn State with just 19 yards. James Peoples, who many thought would take the leading role, had just 13-yards on eight carries.

Quinton Martin Jr. only touched the ball three times for a total of six-rushing yards.

Northwestern had two players individually rush for more than three times Penn State’s team total.

Campbell took responsibility afterward:

Put a lot on me because somehow, some way I didn’t get this team prepared to play the physical brand of football that we need to play…We got to find solutions, and it starts with me as the head football coach.

There will also be questions surrounding Becht after his second consecutive rough outing. Campbell made it clear after the game that he never considered going to backup Alex Manske and still believes in his starting quarterback:

Rocco, we have great belief in.

But this issue is more on the quarterback play.

Penn State cannot run the football consistently. The offensive line has struggled to control the line of scrimmage. The offense continues to have drives disappear after one or two positive plays. And on Friday, the defense joined the list of concerns.

Rojas was one of the few bright spots. He finished with a career-high 12 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Ebel added 11 tackles and Keanu Williams recorded a career-high seven.

But the team allowed 413-rushing yards.

Penn State was unable to respond after blowing a 17-point lead to Wisconsin at home.

Northwestern controlled the line of scrimmage, controlled the clock, and the tempo of the game. Penn State was never able to establish its identity on either side of the football.

Two weeks ago, the Nittany Lions were the No. 13 team in the nation.

Now, they are 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten.

Northwestern improves to 3-1 and 1-1 in conference play.

The room for error for Penn State has now disappeared. They cannot afford another loss. The issue is that the upcoming games do not get any easier.

Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium next Saturday for the White Out against currently No. 18 USC before traveling to Michigan the following week. USC brings another dangerous rushing attack to Happy Valley, meaning Penn State has one week to figure out what went wrong against Northwestern.

This White Out should be bring excitement and fun. However, week six’s matchup is full of pressure.

Penn State needs to bounce back. They need to beat USC. They need to find their true identity.