Penn State football is in a very tough place right now. After losing to UCLA and Oregon in back-to-back weeks, the first time the Nittany Lions have lost in consecutive weeks since 2021, fans are in uproar over James Franklin and the entire coaching staff.

Some fans are calling for a boycott of the fifth home game of the year for Penn State, asking fans not to attend Beaver Stadium. Others expect it to be one of the most hostile home games in recent memory for Penn State.

“I want the fans to feel good and be excited, and I know that we impact their mood for the week and the year,” Franklin said on Wednesday. “So I get it. I do. Do I like it? Am I happy about it? No, but I get it. You know, this is a place that’s got high expectations and high standards.”

Regardless of the fans, Penn State has to win to keep its playoff hopes alive. The two sides have faced each other 21 times in the past, with Penn State leading the series 16-5. The last time the Wildcats took on the Nittany Lions, Penn State won 41-13 in Evanston, Illinois.

The Team

Northwestern is 3-2 through five games of the 2025 season with a 1-1 record in the Big Ten. The Wildcats’ two losses came to 4-1 Tulane and 5-0 Oregon. The wins are against UCLA, ULM, and Western Illinois.

The Big Ten media poll had Northwestern finishing last in the conference, but the Wildcats have been able to battle with every team they have come across this season.

The Northwestern head coach, David Braun, is in his third season with the Wildcats. Since taking over, he has a 15-15 record, including an 8-5 record in his first season. That year, 2023, Braun brought his team to its first Bowl victory since 2020. He was rewarded with the Big Ten Coach of the Year award and the Paul “Bear” Bryant Newcomer Coach of the Year Award.

Before his time in Evanston, Braun was a two-time national champion with North Dakota State as the defensive coordinator.

The offensive coordinator against the Nittany Lions will be Zach Lujan, who also came from one of Dakota’s. Lujan is entering his second season with the Wildcats after joining from South Dakota State, where he also won three national championships.

Tim McGarigle is the defensive coordinator for Northwestern. He is entering his second season as the defensive playcaller after being promoted from linebackers coach in 2024. Prior to heading to Evanston, he worked for the Green Bay Packers as the defensive quality control coach.

McGarigle played college football with the Wildcats and is their all-time leading tackler and the FBS’s third all-time career tackler with 545 stops. Since joining the staff, he has coached five All-Big Ten linebackers and a Butkus-Fitzgerald Big Ten Linebacker of the Year.

The Offense

So far in the 2025 season, Northwestern has averaged 23.60 points per game with a balanced attack of 196.0 rushing yards and 185 passing yards per game.

The team is led by quarterback Preston Stone, a highly recruited four-star out of Dallas, Texas. He initially committed to SMU, where he played from 2021 through the 2024 season, but never panned out. He entered the transfer portal and joined the Wildcats prior to this season. He did have an offer from Penn State out of high school.

This season, he has thrown for 918 yards on a 61.5% completion rate with seven touchdowns and six interceptions, four of which came in the season opener against Tulane.

Stone’s primary receivers have been Griffen Wilde, Hunter Welching, and Drew Wagner. Wilde is also a transfer, joining the Wildcats after a 70-catch, 12-touchdown season with South Dakota State. He was expected to be the No. 1 target heading into the season, and has delivered with 375 and two touchdowns.

Caleb Komolafe has been the lead back for Northwestern this season, somewhat surprisingly. The 2024 lead back Cam Porter returned in 2024, but has only appeared in two games and is expected to miss the rest of the season after suffering a lower-body injury.

Komolafe is a redshirt sophomore who has been with Northwestern his whole career. This season, he has 344 yards and four touchdowns on 76 carries. In the UCLA game, he became the Wildcats’ first 100-yard rusher since 2022.

The offensive line is much improved in 2025, led by veteran center Jack Bailey and tackle Caleb Tiernan. The rest of the line was brought in through the transfer portal. Minnesota transfer Martes Lewis leads the Big Ten in quarterback pressures allowed with only one so far this season.

The Defense

The defense has been the strong point of the team to this point. Braun and McGarigle run a very simple defense compared to other Big Ten schools, which allows the players to play confidently, fast, and seemingly without mental error.

Franklin compared the Wildcats’ defense to Iowa teams in the past for its ability to win a game against any opponent. They are allowing just 17 points against per game.

Leading the defense is defensive back Robert Fitzgerald. The redshirt junior leads the team with 42 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. He has not recorded any coverage stats so far this season.

In general, the secondary has been improved from last season, mainly due to transfer portal grabs. This includes former Jacksonville State corner Fred Davis. Where the Wildcats need help is replacing star safety Damon Walters, who has not played yet this season, but was expected to be in the running for All-Big Ten honors. He is listed as questionable for the game against the Nittany Lions.

The linebacker room has been good as well, led by graduate student Mac Uihlein. He has 35 total tackles this season, with two interceptions and one forced fumble. The brother of Kansas City Chiefs star George Karlafitis, Yannis, transferred in from Purdue this offseason and was expected to take a large role in the middle of the field.

While he hasn’t affected the season as some Wildcat fans hoped, he has also added 11 tackles and one quarterback hit.

The strength of the defense, though, is the defensive line. Defensive ends Aidan Hubbard and Anto Saka are talented enough to affect the pass game, but are strong in the run-stopping part of the game as well. Defensive lineman end Carmine Baston also adds to run defense from the middle of the trenches.

Special Teams

Luke Akers is the only player you need to know on the Wildcats’ special teams unit. The UCLA transfer is the primary punter and kicker for Northwestern in 2025.

Through 15 kickoffs, Akers is averaging 63 yards per kick and has forced 10 touchbacks. He has also punted it 13 times for an average of 46.62 yards with a long of 59. On field goals, Akers is three for three on the year with a long of 35 yards.