BWI Daily: Penn State vs. Northwestern Preview

The Blue-White Podcast: A Penn State Athletics Podcast

Penn State faces Northwestern on Saturday to start the remainder of the 2022 Big Ten schedule. To get fans ready for the game, senior editor Nate Bauer hosts the BWI Daily Edition with publisher Sean Fitz to preview the upcoming contest. Part of that preview is a look back at the week in Penn State football to review where the Nittany Lions stand heading into the game.

This week the news, while subtle, was significant. There have been rumors that starting quarterback Sean Clifford would not play this weekend, and backup Drew Allar would get the start. While Fitz and Bauer don't have anything concrete to report, they have noticed odd things happening around that story. So they discuss the situation before moving on to practice observations.

Bauer starts open practice observations with what he and Fitz saw of Clifford during the 20 minutes of open availability. Next, they discuss the players with known injuries this week, including tight end Tyler Warren and interior lineman Hunter Nourzad. That conversation gets context from James Franklin's comments after practice, as does the situation with defensive tackle Coziah Izzard. They discuss how the tone has changed around Izzard and defensive end Smith Vilbert, both of which haven't been available to start the season.

Next, they review where the team stands coming out of non-conference play and reflect on the lessons they learned playing Central Michigan last weekend. Naturally, that leads into the preview of Northwestern. It's been a tough start to the season for the 1-3 Wildcats, with three straight home losses. Bauer and Fitz discuss the team's shortcomings and how they have an unusual identity this season compared to the traditional Northwestern plan of attack.

Finally, they put all of this in context with Penn State's upcoming bye week and then give their score predictions for the game.

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