Northwestern University Athletics
Postgame Notes: Northwestern 29, Penn State 6
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Northwestern Postgame Notes
Northwestern 29, Penn State 6 • Sept. 27, 2014
Beaver Stadium • University Park, Pa.
Attendance: 102,910
Northwestern Team Notes
• This was the 17th all-time meeting in the Northwestern-Penn State series and Northwestern's fourth-ever victory. The Wildcats defeated the Nittany Lions for the first time since 2004, also NU's last win in Happy Valley.
• After opening 2014 with three straight home games as well as a bye week, this marked the latest into the month of September that the Wildcats played their first road game since the 1986 season, when NU also played its first road game on Sept. 27.
• Northwestern became the first team to score in the first quarter against Penn State this season. The Wildcats tallied 14 first-quarter points.
• NU's 29 points were the most scored against Penn State this season. The Nittany Lions ranked No. 6 nationally in scoring defense entering the game.
• Defensively, the Wildcats kept an opponent out of the end zone for an entire game for the first time since defeating Illinois State, 37-3, on Sept. 11, 2010.
• By winning the turnover battle in the game, 2-1, Northwestern improved to 32-14 all-time under Pat Fitzgerald when forcing more turnovers than its opponent.
Northwestern Individual Notes
• QB Trevor Siemian recorded a unique stat line of 5 carries for (-8) net rushing yards with three touchdowns--all QB sneaks. Entering the game, Siemian had just one career rushing TD, which came in the 2013 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl vs. Mississippi State.
• Siemian is the first Wildcat with three rushing touchdowns in the same game since Treyvon Green vs. Nebraska on Nov. 2, 2013.
• Through the air, Siemian finished with 258 yards on 21-of-37 passing.
• SB Dan Vitale led Northwestern receivers with a career-high 113 yards on seven receptions (16.1 ypc). It marks Vitale's second career 100-yard receiving game and the first by an NU player since last year's season-finale at Illinois.
• Playing in his first Big Ten contest, LB Anthony Walker made his first career start in place of injured senior Collin Ellis and notched a team-leading eight tackles. Walker also secured his first career interception, which he returned 49 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.
• Also making a splash in his Big Ten debut was true freshman defensive end Xavier Washington, who recorded his first sack and forced fumble immediately following Walker's pick-6 in the fourth quarter.
• Miles Shuler, playing in his first career Big Ten game, recorded a 42-yard punt return in the opening quarter. It was Northwestern's longest punt return since Venric Mark's 75-yard return for touchdown on Oct. 6, 2012, also against the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium.
• Sophomore WR Mike McHugh made his first career reception, a 28-yard grab down to the 1-yard line that set up Northwestern's first touchdown of the game.
• After two games missed with injury, WR Tony Jones returned to the NU lineup and made his 25th career start for the Wildcats. Jones caught a 6-yard pass on the second play from scrimmage and finished with three catches for 31 yards.
