End of First Quarter; Northwestern 3, Penn State 3
On the ensuing kickoff, it looked like Penn State might break one, but Charles Brown had a great solo tackle to prevent anything from manifesting. On first down, Evan Royster ran for three yards, and on second down, Daryll Clark did some running of his own, picking up six yards. On third and two, Royster managed to pick up four yards and the first down. A three-yard pass on first down was followed by a nine-yard pass to Chaz Powell. Graham Zug tried to run over Ricky Weina after his catch, but he was brought down for six. Royster then ran for two yards, bringing up another third down. Royster got the call again, but there were no holes on the line of scrimmage, and he went nowhere. The Penn State punt went into the end zone, so the Cats will start at their 20.
Mike Kafka completed a pass to Drake Dunsmore on first down for 13 yards and a first down. That’s the end of the first quarter. The Cats are tied with the Nittany Lions and have the ball at their own 33-yard line. It is a pretty good start overall for NU. Obviously it would be better if the Cats were in the lead, but ending the first quarter with the ball and a tie is not bad at all. It seems like a similar start to the Michigan State game. If NU can put together a full 60 minutes of play, from what we saw in the first quarter, this could be a more interesting game than initially anticipated.
