[Postgame Thread] Northwestern Defeats Penn State 34-13

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Penn State	0	7	0	6	13
Northwestern	10	14	7	3	34

[u/Isthmus11]

With all due respect to Northwestern -- I think they are a very legit team that will finish ranked or at least be a fringe ranked team this year -- we COMPLETELY suck.

I was hesitant about some of the off season film I watched particularly on the defenders we recruited this year, but I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt to our new staff. This is inexcusable. If NW is rushing for 400+ on us just imagine what Indiana/Michigan/USC/Oregon/OSU would (or will) do to this squad. This is not a team that is equipped to play B10 ball in the trenches on either side of the ball, regardless of what you think about Becht this game was always lost based on that alone.

I figured there would be growing pains and was hoping for an 8-4 season this year with the soft ass schedule. I am not sure if we can beat any B10 teams outside of Maryland and Rutgers at this point.

[u/deptofnahmsayns → u/Isthmus11]

Join us, friend. Together we form the triangle of suck.

[u/trappedbehindmydesk → u/Isthmus11]

Penn state will beat USC. We ass on the road

[u/Isthmus11 → u/trappedbehindmydesk]

Tbh that would be the funniest possible outcome here but I truly don't see it. Our defense actually does not know how to wrap up and tackle. They are out here throwing shoulders and hoping for the best and Becht very clearly looks like 2025 Rocco not 2024 Rocco we were promised.

I don't think you guys are very disciplined and that + massive travel + whiteout + some fuckery I thought meant there could be a chance. After watching both teams' games the last 2 weeks there is simply not a chance. You might hang 50 on us

[u/toilets_lament → u/trappedbehindmydesk]

Just run the ball on us and you'll be fine.

[u/DisgruntledCascadian → u/trappedbehindmydesk]

We also quite honestly appear to be ass, well, anywhere.

[u/dominorider2431 → u/trappedbehindmydesk]

We ass at home too. Proof: Wisconsin last week

[u/Competitive_Feed_402 → u/Isthmus11]

You're lucky you're not playing a team like Minnesota this year. Anyone playing us better look out

[u/Independent_Trip_892 → u/Competitive_Feed_402]

You mean the Nov 14th game was cancelled? Thank god

[u/HelloToe → u/Competitive_Feed_402]

Incidentally, I expect Matt Campbell to be a lot like Fleck: solidly mid-tier. Consistently good enough to be annoying.

[u/Glad_Ad_6989 → u/HelloToe]

The thing is, Fleck is doing more with less. If Campbell is going 7-5ish every year, he’s doing a lot less with a lot more

[u/MikeinAustin → u/Glad_Ad_6989]

If PJ Fleck was a general back in the Revolutionary War, England wouldn’t have made it to winter.

Players and fans are behind him, minus the occasional crazy fan that wants to fire him if he takes an ill chosen time out.

[u/DBE113301 → u/Glad_Ad_6989]

This is what I don't get. Having been born and raised in Minnesota, I can say with complete certainty that the Twin Cities would be an ideal place for any college student to spend four years. You've got a great college atmosphere on campus with a vibrant metropolitan area surrounding it. Looking for something to do on a Saturday night? Go to a Wolves game. The cold in the wintertime is the only drawback, so I don't really know why the Gophers can't recruit with the top tier of B1G programs.

[u/Glad_Ad_6989 → u/DBE113301]

Money. That’s the long and short of it

[u/HelloToe → u/Glad_Ad_6989]

Yeah, that's about what I expect. The thing about Iowa State is that people still think of them as being one of the poorest teams in the Big 12, but if you look at the numbers they're actually toward the top in most categories. That's just the reality of the modern Big 12.

[u/tampaempath → u/Competitive_Feed_402]

Minnesota plays at Penn State November 14.

[u/fourthandfivenatty → u/Isthmus11]

Campbell shouldn’t even finish the season if y’all lose to Purdue later this month. 

[u/asdf0909 → u/fourthandfivenatty]

It’s his first season, he needs time to properly recruit

Like for us, mario’s record sucked his first year. Imagine we fired him halfway through

2022: 5–7
2023: 7–6
2024: 10–3
2025: 13–3 went to natty

[u/Mattp55 → u/asdf0909]

Yup this game tn sucked ass, but this roster stinks and he needs time to bring his dudes in. Total overreaction to tear it all down midway through year 1 

[u/ArmAggravating3307 → u/Mattp55]

He did bring his dudes in lol.

[u/ajhalyard → u/asdf0909]

He brought a half roster of Big12 players into the Big10 after Franklin gutted the roster of a ton of the talent, or course this team isn't going to perform year 1. I will be happy with 8-4. 7-5 would be a bummer.

[u/Isthmus11 → u/fourthandfivenatty]

Nah that would be a complete overreaction. I still believe in Campbell, you can tell me I am just coping but he came into this so late and had such a dumpster fire to clean up I don't think the roster we have is the one he would have chosen to field if he had a full year of stability to prep, scout, and recruit who he wanted to fill holes. This year seems awful, maybe that means he only gets one more year to show improvements but personally I think a 3 year leash is pretty reasonable

[u/BigOlPass → u/Isthmus11]

I don't think the roster we have is the one he would have chosen to field if he had a full year of stability to prep

Why? It's literally the roster he chose to field last year

[u/Isthmus11 → u/BigOlPass]

Yeah man, the resources and players available to the coach of Iowa State and Penn State are clearly completely the same. Like I'm not trying to be a jerk but this is such an intellectually dishonest question to even ask if you are seriously asking it

[u/testerman99 → u/Isthmus11]

Worst Penn state team I can remember

[u/JRockPSU → u/testerman99]

I’m old enough to have been there for 6-4 😒

[u/Bulkmodulus → u/JRockPSU]

At least that team had one of the best defenses in the country.

[u/Adams5thaccount → u/Isthmus11]

Penn State is a team that is usually better than about 120-125 teams but thinks it's better than 130+. This year you're better than about 90-100.

You're...above average. And no one in college football fandom or really modern sports discourse understands what to do with their hands with the concept of above average.

[u/Isthmus11 → u/Adams5thaccount]

Truly man I don't even know if we are actually above average. I'm not trying to be the doomer guy on here who overreacts after one poor game, but we lost to a Wisco team last week that I don't think was very good and was definitely not playing well, their QB played like shit until the final 2 drives and we still found a way to lose. NW is truly a good team but still, it's unthinkable to give up 400 rushing yards like this. And our non-con schedule was a complete joke and TBH there were warning signs even when we played Temple who is not even a very quality G6 team. We might be better than most G6 and I guess that makes us technically average by the numbers but I think we are basement dwellers in the P4 landscape this year

[u/OITLinebacker → u/Isthmus11]

Penn State vs USC will look like a game between two middling Big 12 teams from 15 years ago: Defense Optional.

[u/TheStrigori → u/Isthmus11]

Having a roster that is basically Iowa State North in the Big Ten was always going to be an issue. Not being able to stop the run in the Big Ten is a serious problem. And for whatever reason, a lot of coaches that come in from other leai don't seem to realize how much of a line of scrimmage conference it is, until they're getting shoved around.

[u/Isthmus11 → u/TheStrigori]

I could be coping, but I don't think this roster is what Matt Campbell would have built if he had real options. FWIW, he did go into the portal and tried to get the biggest guys he could for the D-Line I think because he was trying to take this aspect seriously, but the talent of those players is clearly not working out.

He was hired so late he had just a few weeks to desperately try to re-recruit the current PSU players who didn't know him and try to get anyone he could through the portal. I think obviously some ISU players were always gonna come over but I don't think we would have had this many ISU players this high on the depth chart if he had been hired like 2 months earlier for example and had real time to set up his roster and figure out specifically what holes he needed to fill

[u/TheStrigori → u/Isthmus11]

That's possible. But it's also plausible that because he played Iowa every year, and played them close, he figured the guys at ISU would be fine for the first year at PSU. But without the hate from the rivalry, it's just not enough.