This game lives in Nittany Nation infamy. Derrick Williams' game winning touchdown catch saved an unbeaten season. But more importantly, it provided Penn State with one more week of preparation to fine-tune and work out the last of the kinks which were holding this squad back from turning the corner to become a great team. As you watch this game, you'll see that Penn State is far and away the better and more talented team. Yet it seemed as if the turnover issue was that last step the offense needed to fix before taking that next step. And as such, the turnovers killed them again, while Robinson threw three interceptions and lost a fumble all in the first half en route to a halftime deficit. The game plan was obvious; attack Northwestern with deep balls all day. It eventually worked, and while the defense didn't play a perfect game, they responded when they had to and played that 'bend but don't break' philosophy fairly well. Posluszny's insane 22 tackles on the day reflected that effort as he was all over the field in this one.
Penn State's Top Performers:
Paul Posluszny: 22 tackles
Michael Robinson: 17 of 36, 271 yards, 3 TDs, 3 Int. .. 9 carries, 60 yards, TD
Jordan Norwood: 5 catches, 83 yards
Derrick Williams: 1 TD catch to put Penn State back on the map!
The Nittany Lions stay undefeated at 4-0 by the slimmest of margins. Northwestern dropped to 2-2 and finished the season 7-5, earning a trip to the Sun Bowl in which they lost to UCLA, yet finished 6th place in the Big Ten standings in 2005.