No Hackenberg, no problem — for the most part.

Penn State was without one of its rocks in the defense in Brandon Hackenberg, but it turned out to be a non-issue for the Nittany Lions, except for a few plays on the evening.

Hackenberg was issued a red card last week in the team's 3-1 loss to Indiana and had to sit out Saturday's game against Northwestern.

LOADING…

Northwestern’s Julian Zighelboim received a red card in the 17th minute, which also contributed to lessening the workload of the back four.

However, in the 49th minute, Northwestern took the lead after the Penn State backline struggled to clear the ball at the top of the box, and the Wildcats capitalized on it.