BSD Staff Predictions Roundtable: Northwestern

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STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA – OCTOBER 11: Caleb Komolafe #5 of the Northwestern Wildcats reacts with Ricky Ahumaraeze #10 of the Northwestern Wildcats after scoring a touchdown against the Penn State Nittany Lions during the fourth quarter at Beaver Stadium on October 11, 2025 in State College, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Isaiah Vazquez/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Following a collapse of epic proportions against Wisconsin, Penn State heads on the road to play Northwestern. How does the staff see this one playing out?

Chris

Hoo boy. A week after losing in borderline historic fashion, Penn State now gets to head on the road to take on a Northwestern squad that a) gave a top 5 Indiana squad all it could handle, and b) is opening its brand new, state-of-the-art football palace for the first time ever. Not great!

The defense continues to play well, albeit with an occasional busted coverage, but the offense continues its lethargic way. The run game does virtually nothing, and Rocco Becht continues to look lost without Koby Howard. Sound the alarm.

Northwestern 24, Penn State 14

Eli

Northwestern nearly took down Indiana on the road, Penn State kept tripping over its own dick against Wisconsin, at home, in their first game against a team with a pulse under Matt Campbell. I have no idea what to expect on Friday, and that’s not a particularly encouraging feeling.

Good god they’d better not be favored.

Penn State 56, Northwestern 17

Lando

This game goes one of two ways.

The Northwestern that outplayed Indiana on the road and almost pulled off the upset shows up to their first home game in their new stadium. If that happens, Penn State is in trouble.
Penn State comes out on fire and learns from its poor showing on Saturday.

For now, I’m going with Option 1.

Northwestern 28, Penn State 21

Colin

Penn State’s offense had an atrocious performance in the conference opener. There is still time to turn things around, but Saturday served as a reality check for the new era. This needs to be a win for the Lions, or the season could quickly go off the rails with USC and Michigan on tap the following two weeks.

I had this game circled as a trap spot for Penn State with Northwestern opening their new stadium and it being the first Big Ten road game. The dynamic has completely changed with Northwestern playing Indiana tough on the road and Penn State looking anemic against Wisconsin. This is going to be a close game until the end, but I think the Lions do just enough to squeak out a road win.

Penn State 23, Northwestern 20

Bennett

I had decided last weekend before Penn State lost to Wisconsin that I was going to take the Wildcats in this one. I think the moment will be big for Northwestern and I think getting a win in the first game of the new Ryan Field will be of major importance. Let’s be honest, too. Northwestern looked really solid in the second half last Friday night against Indiana, nearly upsetting the defending national champions in Bloomington. I hated what I saw from Penn State on Saturday and their road performance at Temple doesn’t inspire me.

All that being said – I’m going against my original thought and thinking the Lions find a way to circle the wagons. Barely.

Penn State 19, Northwestern 17

Patrick

I am not a coward.

Penn State 28, Northwestern 24

Jared

(First appearing in the Game Preview)

The vibes seem to be in Northwestern’s favor heading into this match-up. They are off to a strong start, and are coming off a “good loss” as they pushed defending national champions Indiana to the brink in a one-possession game. This will be their second consecutive Friday game, giving them an extra day of rest. The offense is coming together in Chip Kelly’s system, adding firepower to a team that has had consistently great defenses under David Braun. They return many players who helped defeat Penn State in 2025, and have the confidence they can do it again. There’s also the big one – Friday night will be the first game played at the new Ryan Field, and the Wildcats will be extra juiced to take down a blueblood in prime time to mark the occasion.

All those things do not necessarily add up to a Northwestern victory. However, Penn State’s offensive ineptitude in the only conference game of the season was so alarming that I will need to see that they can consistently move the ball against a top-half Big Ten defense. Perhaps the Nittany Lions had a great week of practice and can prove last week was an outlier. It could also turn out that the offense is quite limited. We will certainly have some answers by late Friday night.

Northwestern 23, Penn State 20

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