Nov. 08--Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald had hoped to change the Wildcats' trend of seven straight losses following an off weekend when NU hosted Penn State Saturday at Ryan Field.
And somehow he did with a 23-21 victory on a 35-yard field goal by Jack Mitchell with 9 seconds left. The Wildcats had blown a 20-7 halftime lead and fell behind 21-20 after Mitchell had missed an extra point and two previous field goal tries.
Northwestern senior backup quarterback Zack Oliver took over for injured red-shirt freshman Clayton Thorson. Oliver ran for one TD and passed 14 yards to Christian Jones for another. Sophomore Solomon Vault also returned a kickoff 96 yards for a score.
Passing fancy: Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg is having a record-breaking season. Hackenberg threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns in last week's 39-0 win over Illinois. Only a junior, Hackenberg already owns most of the career passing records at Penn State.
But Northwestern's defense frustrated Hackenberg in the first half. The Nittany Lions scored two touchdowns in the second half on a 32-yard pass from Geno Lewis to DaeSean Hamilton and a 13-yard run by Saquon Barkley.
On the run: The Wildcats got sophomore running back Justin Jackson going against the Nittany Lions. He rushed for 186 yards on 28 carries on Saturday.
"Justin is fine. He works hard and he competes, like he caught the ball out of the backfield in the last game (against Nebraska)," offensive coordinator Mick McCall said before the game of Jackson's confidence level. "Any way he can get some touches it is going to be better. Justin is eager, he will bounce back. He's a heck of a player. He's an all-around player, too."
Zak back: Former Northwestern quarterback Zak Kustok, (1999-2001), who was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, was the honorary captain for Saturday's game.
Bowling: Representatives from the Holiday Bowl were on hand to watch Saturday's game.
fmitchell@tribpub.com
