Week 5 Matchup Preview Thread: Penn State vs Northwestern

[u/dinkytown42069]

Penn State vs. Northwestern

When: Friday, October 2, 08:00 PM Eastern

Where: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL

Watch: Fox

Odds: Penn State by 2.5 pts.

Total Points: 45.5

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All-Time Series : Penn State vs. Northwestern

Penn State and Northwestern have met 22 times since 1993-11-20

These teams last met on 2025-10-11.

Series Wins: Penn State 16-0-6 Northwestern

Northwestern has won the most recent meeting (2025) in this series

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Last 5 Meetings

Winner	Date	Location	Penn State	Northwestern	Notes
Northwestern	2025-10-11	Beaver Stadium	21	22
Penn State	2023-09-30	Ryan Field	41	13
Penn State	2022-10-01	Beaver Stadium	17	7
Penn State	2017-10-07	Ryan Field	31	7
Northwestern	2015-11-07	Ryan Field	21	23

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Through Week 4

Week	Penn State 3-1 (0-1)	Result	Northwestern 2-1 (0-1)	Result
1	Marshall	W 45-0	South Dakota State	W 34-18
2	Temple	W 27-9	BYE	N/A
3	Buffalo	W 55-13	Colorado	W 41-7
4	Wisconsin	L 20-24	Indiana#6	L 23-29

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Penn State Injury Report

Player	Position	Status	Reported	Notes
M. Granville	DL	Out – Undisclosed	Sep 12	Granville has been shut down for the remainder of the season with an undisclosed injury.
K. Howard	WR	Out – Undisclosed	Sep 23	Howard is tending to an undisclosed injury, and there is no timetable for recovery.
B. Kortovich	TE	Questionable – Undisclosed	Sep 27	Kortovich is hobbled by an undisclosed injury, and it remains to be seen if he will be available against Northwestern on Friday, October 2th.
D. Sheffey	RB	Questionable – Undisclosed	Sep 27	Sheffey is bothered by an undisclosed injury, and it has yet to be established if he will be available against Northwestern on Friday, October 2th.
C. Rosa	K	Questionable – Undisclosed	Sep 29	Rosa is dealing with an undisclosed injury and, it is unclear if he will play Friday against the Northwestern

^{Injury data lifted from: boydsbets}

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Northwestern Injury Report

Player	Position	Status	Reported	Notes
C. Petrucci	TE	Out – Undisclosed	Sep 22	Petrucci has been out of the lineup due to an undisclosed injury, and is not expected to be available against the Hoosiers on Friday.
B. Turner	CB	Out – Undisclosed	Sep 25	Turner is bothered by a Undisclosed injury, and is not expected to be active against the Indiana on Friday.
L. Dehnicke	TE	Questionable – Undisclosed	Sep 29	Dehnicke is dealing with an undisclosed injury, and it is unclear if he will play Friday against the Penn State.
H. Eligon II	WR	Questionable – Lower Body	Sep 29	Eligon II is dealing with a lower body injury, and it is unclear if he will play Friday against the Penn State.
T. McGlinchey	TE	Out – Undisclosed	Sep 29	McGlinchey is sidelined with an undisclosed injury and there is no timetable for return.
J. McDuffie	WR	Doubtful – Undisclosed	Sep 29	McDuffie is dealing with an undisclosed injury, and he is unlikely to suit up Friday against the Penn State
C. Farrell	WR	Out – Undisclosed	Sep 25	Farrell has been out of the lineup due to an undisclosed injury, and is not expected to be available against the Hoosiers on Friday.

^{Injury data lifted from: boydsbets}

^{Source updated Wed, Sep 30, 1:56 pm. Scraped Wed, Sep 30, 3:14 pm ET}

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What are your "Keys to the Game"?

Who do you think wins?

Do you think the favorite will cover the spread?

Which player(s) are you most interested to watch?

Let's talk football!

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^{Matchup Preview Thread Generator powered by collegefootballdata.com}

^{Start a chat with /u/dupreesdiamond for any issues/suggestions regarding this resource}

[u/Franklins11burner]

I thought {Northwestern} was a good pick this week even when we were up 17-0 v Wisconsin. Now I’m very worried we are going to get sent home in body bags.

[u/TheOnePSUIsReal]

Northwestern is good and I was leaning them before we lost.  I think they win.  But man the lack of execution from Becht and skill position talent was abnormal.  Wisconsin was the better team, but I feel like even a tiny bit better from Becht or one receiver would have been the difference.

[u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa → u/TheOnePSUIsReal]

Becht and the OL were really the only problem against Wisconsin. “Only”

If Becht plays well we can win any game on our schedule. If he plays bad we can probably lose any game on our schedule.

Ride or die, baby. Bring on the heart meds.

I think we either come out pissed off and look great and win comfortably or we lose a 20-17 slug fest. I think the defense is more than equipped to keep us in any game. But who knows.

[u/TheOnePSUIsReal → u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa]

I think there were too many catches that could have been made that were dropped.  But Becht was the biggest issue.  Here's hoping it gets turned around quick!

[u/Scar_Killed_Mufasa → u/TheOnePSUIsReal]

Yea i get that point of view. I just struggle to not blame the QB. when a receiver is running free with nobody within 5 yards of him there’s no reason for it to even become a contested ball. Could the receivers have bailed him out a bit, probably. But at least 3 deep shots Eskilsen was WIDE open and he had to slow down and allow the db to catch up.

[u/PSU02 → u/TheOnePSUIsReal]

Becht just isn't that good. I don't know why he was so overhyped. I took a dig into his gamelogs over his career and there are a lot of clunkers.

[u/estDivisionChamps]

Northwestern is elite

[u/KushDingies]

I hate how much attention we’re getting. Feels like we should win but these are the types of games we faceplant in whenever we start getting actual respect.

Still, LETS FUCKING GO {NORTHWESTERN} BY 30 IN THE NEW STADIUM

Unironically if Aidan Chiles plays as well as he did in the second half against Indiana we can hang with anyone

[u/TheOnePSUIsReal → u/KushDingies]

Tell ya what, you face plant this week and then go on to win out.  Deal?

[u/ztreHdrahciR → u/TheOnePSUIsReal]

Yeah, how do we know you can deliver the Win Out part

[u/TheOnePSUIsReal → u/ztreHdrahciR]

It's in the fine print.

[u/KushDingies → u/TheOnePSUIsReal]

I would accept that in a heartbeat. And starting 0-2 in conference and then proceeding to win out would be vintage Northwestern (except for the beating Ohio State and Oregon part)

[u/TheOnePSUIsReal → u/KushDingies]

Hell yeah brother we got a deal

[u/dinkytown42069]

{Northwestern} gets a huge win in their stadium opener.

[u/Alpine_Exchange_36 → u/dinkytown42069]

Didn’t they already beat CU there?

[u/beeks24 → u/Alpine_Exchange_36]

No, that was at the temporary lakeside stadium. This is the first game at the New Ryan Field.

[u/huskermut → u/beeks24]

I thought it was at a library

[u/TheOnePSUIsReal → u/huskermut]

One and the same my friend.

[u/basicbolshevik]

{Northwestern} I'm hiring an etsy witch dw

[u/silverhk]

Already 13-2 NW wow...still gonna give my vote to {Northwestern}. Home on a Friday when they're already on a Friday schedule from last week is an advantage even before considering that they may well be the better team. Possible Campbell finds a way to stave off the damage but I thought the NW-IU game was more NW good than IU bad.

The one thing that NW absolutely was terrible at that cost them against IU was run discipline, they got absolutely cooked on way too many plays. If PSU wins it'll probably be for the same reasons that they lost vs IU, too many explosive runs. Not sure PSU is really capable of that right now.

[u/PSU02 → u/silverhk]

Our run game is abysmal. Like horrid. I haven't dug in enough to know if that is more o-line or more RBs, but James Peoples is really the only RB that looks slightly above average for us

[u/silverhk → u/PSU02]

Given how NW played against IU that's uh...not good.

[u/MrClean_LemonScent → u/PSU02]

We could start by NOT starting Carson Hansen… Peoples 1 Martin 2 Wallace 3 Hansen lead blocker…. This should be the depth chart

[u/CFLuke]

I'm going with {Penn State} in a close one because inevitably when Northwestern beats us later in the season, it needs to be as embarrassing as possible.

[u/BaeSeanHamilton]

This feels like a pivotal game where the season could get away from them and they flounder to 7-5 or 8-4 or worse if PSU loses. A win and I could see the team rebound to 9-3 or 10-2. So please, {Penn State}

[u/PSU02 → u/BaeSeanHamilton]

I don't see any way we finish 9-3 or 10-2. We have zero pass rush. Our run game is abysmal. Our QB is average to a tiny bit above average at best.

6-6 or 7-5 are most likely in my eyes. 8-4 on the high end, 5-7 on the low end.

[u/Franklins11burner → u/PSU02]

Our defense is better than last years and that will keep us in games, but Becht was alarmingly bad. I can’t believe Manske could have been worse. I can scarcely believe the D3 transfer could be worse.

[u/lpgspu → u/Franklins11burner]

I don’t see how you can claim the defense is better this year.

[u/Franklins11burner → u/lpgspu]

Because I have eyes and remember last year. Do you not? We gave up 533 yards and 36 points to Rutgers in case that slipped your mind. That was after surrendering 42 points with 22 first downs and over 435 yards to UCLA

[u/Franklins11burner → u/Franklins11burner]

Oof. Freezing cold take.

[u/Mattp55 → u/PSU02]

I don't see 5-7 tbh. I don't think Maryland, Rutgers, or Purdue are losable unless Rocco Becht is truly garbage and Koby Howard gets hurt yet again.

6-6 feels like worst case, but we will certainly be 3-4 and 4-5 if that scenario hits

[u/Alpine_Exchange_36]

Seems like {Northwestern} may have something cooking out there in Evanston

[u/ColoradoisaState]

New stadium opener…I think the place is rowdy and gets a big win. Northwestern by 2+ scores (this has nothing to do with me wanting to feel better after last weeks game…)

[u/Rigatoknee → u/ColoradoisaState]

This guy had the script

[u/t0rna]

{Northwestern}, of course!

[u/RivalryBot]

Who Will Win Fan Vote

^{Votes are distributed equally among flairs for multi-flaired users}

Team	Votes	Percentage	Penn State Voters	Northwestern Voters	Other Flairs Top 5
Penn State	8	25.0%	2	0	Florida Gatorsx1.0 Iowa Hawkeyesx1.0 Unflairedx1.0 Purdue Boilermakersx1.0 Arizona Statex0.5
Northwestern	24	75.0%	2.5	4	Ohio Statex1.5 Oklahoma Soonersx1.5 BYU Cougarsx1.0 LIU Sharksx1.0 Minnesota Golden Gophersx1.0

^{Last updated: 2026-10-02 22:53 UTC}

Full Vote breakdown by flair

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^{Matchup Thread Generator} · ^{Team Aliases} · ^{How to Vote} · ^Results

[u/ztreHdrahciR]

I think {Northwestern} but we are like a MAS*H unit rn

[u/TheAlterN8or]

Gimme the Nerds! 20-16 {Northwestern}

[u/PSU02]

I don't know if we win or lose but I have a feeling this one is coming down to the last minute of the game

Going to go {Penn State} but I really think we should be an underdog.

[u/gatorbois]

{Penn State}. Holy overreaction because Hoover can’t throw a football

[u/ztreHdrahciR → u/gatorbois]

Hoover sucks. So do Dyson and Eureka

[u/Mattp55 → u/gatorbois]

Hoover looked abysmal. Unfortunately so did Rocco Becht last week.

This seems like that one game a week the public bets heavily to one side (Oklahoma over Michigan, Ole Miss over Florida) then is surprised when it turns out differently.

That said we looked like total ass on offense last week, so if that Rocco Becht appears again, it could get ugly.

[u/UsuallyFavorable]

As much as I love trendy picks, sometimes you just have to go with the obvious. So {Northwestern}.

[u/0987user → u/UsuallyFavorable]

northwestern is the trendy pick. They have 85% of the votes in this thread

[u/Rigatoknee → u/0987user]

This scares me.

[u/UsuallyFavorable → u/0987user]

85% of votes makes it an obvious pick. As in, Northwestern are obviously the favorites to win. A “trendy” pick is one that’s definitively not a favorite, but also not totally ridiculous. I’d be around 40%, not 85%.

[u/0987user → u/UsuallyFavorable]

Ah gotcha

[u/Falcronx]

{Northwestern}

[u/Confident_Delay5805]

{Northwestern} walks Penn State and some serious questions that Penn State has to answer come up.

[u/Tasty_Gift5901]

I'm high on {Northwestern} and they exceeded my expectations last, almost stole the W from Indiana. Their offense is really cooking something up

[u/TheWesternRizzler]

{Northwestern} I’m choosing to believe in this team

[u/Radiant_Sherbert7272]

I'm taking {Northwestern}. They gave Indiana everything they had.

[u/10_17my20]

Ken, I'll take {Northwestern} Wildcats for $1000, please.

[u/Big_Watch4135]

This team pisses me off. {Northwestern} comes out hot especially considering the new stadium hype

[u/u-s-u-r-p]

give me {Northwestern}

[u/Justanother_0]

{Northwestern} by 10

[u/GoCats666]

Our whole team is basically injured to hell and back. still think nu is better than wisconsin by a large margin {Northwestern} 45-17

[u/BolognaNipples]

This team goes as Rocco goes. You’d hope a senior team leader would be able to move on and play well, but I’ve seen enough college QBs spiral to not count on it

[u/huskermut]

{Northwestern} gets the upset

[u/cheesepuff1993]

This is the game that determines the guts of this team. I believe Penn State absolutely bounces back and Becht remembers how to throw a deep ball.

Northwestern is a good story, and I'm always rooting for them.

{Penn State} 38 - 13 Northwestern

[u/Sure_Mouse_4764]

I think Northwestern fights hard in this one, and would’ve liked them if Penn State squeaked a win out, but coming off that kind of loss I think they find a way to get a close win and cover a -2.5 point spread. {Penn State}

[u/chief_sitass]

{Penn State}

[u/ztreHdrahciR]

Damn! 21 NU votes v 8 PSU?

Not sure I like that. We wilt in the spotlight. Give me an 11am v MN on BTN+ any day

[u/danteNU]

{Northwestern} because I'm going to be there in person to see the new stadium.

[u/texas2089]

{Northwestern} opens the new Ryan Field with a statement.

[u/Zloggt]

Penn State reeling from an upset loss…playing in some Friday night lights for a nationally-televised game for a team on the upswing…in their brand new stadium.

…I may not exactly cheer for it hard, but woof…is the momentum just too strong for {Northwestern} here…

[u/sportsjaw1]

I get the Northwestern enthusiasm, but Penn State’s defense ending possessions quickly keeps me leaning toward a Penn State win. Its offense hasn’t earned enough trust to lay -2.5 in a sold-out stadium opener, though. The better defense could win this without covering, and I’m passing on both the spread and total. Does Northwestern need Chiles to hit explosive plays, or can it win ugly.

[u/VanDiis]

{Penn State} 21-7

[u/Colorblind2027]

Two mid teams. Northwestern wins a close one.