Way back in late September of 2014, Northwestern headed to Penn State with a dismal 1-2 record, their only win coming in a close game with 1-AA doormat Western Illinois. The Cats game planned then unbeaten (4-0) PSU’s quarters defense, hit a few timely seam passes to “superback” Dan Vitale, and - with a little help from 36 consecutive John Donovan pass attempts - beat Penn State 29-6 on homecoming. The loss began an oh-fer-October, 4-game PSU slide that ended in a 7-6 season.
The next year, in November 2015, our Penn State Nittany Lions traveled to Evanston with a 7-2 record, on the verge of becoming ranked for the first time in what felt like 800 years, having just dispatched a truly abysmal Illinois squad 39-0.