End of Third Quarter: Northwestern 13, Penn State 13
Evan Royster starting things off with a six-yard rush. Daryll Clark then completed a pass to Chaz Powell, and he was able to gain 13 yards after some poor tackling by Northwestern. The pitch to Royster was fumbled by the running back, but he was able to recover the ball. To make things worse for the Nittany Lions, they were flagged for holding, so it is now first and 20. Clark promptly made up most of those 20 yards on a 17-yard pass to Andrew Quarless. Another pass, this time to Derek Moye, picked up the first down. Clark was then sacked by Vince Browne for a loss of eight yards, bringing the ball back to the Penn State 47. On second and 18, Clark threw a screen pass to Royster that went for seven yards thanks to some good defensive discipline. A Clark pass attempt to Moye was incomplete, bringing up fourth down. Jeremy Boone is out to punt, and the ball went into the end zone. The Cats will take over at their 20.
Dan Persa takes the snap once again for the Wildcats, and he begins with a pass to Zeke Markshausen for a loss of two yards. On the ensuing play, Persa flipped the ball to Stephen Simmons, and it was nearly a blown play. Persa was forced out of the pocket and couldn’t complete a pass to Andrew Brewer. Stefan Demos punted the ball 38 yards to the Penn State 42. Without Kafka, the NU offense is really struggling to get anything going. Penn State knows Persa wants to scramble around, and the Nittany Lions are taking that away.
Royster starting off the Penn State drive with an eight-yard rush. Royster rushed the ball again for five yards to the NU 45-yard line.
That’s the end of the third, and it’s not looking great for the Cats. On one hand, they have to be happy that the score is still tied. On the other hand, the Nittany Lions are driving, and from the look of their third quarter offense (only two yards of total offense), it doesn’t look like the Cats will reciprocate. Kafka still has not been ruled out, so we’ll see if the coaching staff is willing to risk it and put him in for Persa.
