Penn State proved last week against Indiana that even when its offense doesn’t play well, it can take care of business.

The Nittany Lions produced just 370 yards of offense, including a less-than-impressive 39 yards on the ground. Saquon Barkley was held to just 56 yards rushing at 2.8 yards per carry, and Penn State as a whole was held to 100 less yards of total offense and 140 less yards in the running game (per their season average). Still, the Nittany Lions (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) were able to defeat the Hoosiers 45-14.

The Penn State offense might not have played well on the day against Indiana, but its other two units did. Special teams certainly looked special last Saturday as it scored two touchdowns, including an opening 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Barkley.

The Nittany Lions defense did what it’s been able to do all season long, which is to make it difficult on the opposition to get in the end zone. Indiana was able to move the ball at different points throughout the game, but it could only muster 14 points. Penn State also forced the Hoosiers to turn it over three times. The Nittany Lions are now an impressive plus-nine on the season.

Penn State’s defensive and special teams units obviously picked up its offense against Indiana, but it does have to worry some Nittany Lions’ faithful that the Hoosiers were able to shut down its run game. A lot of teams are going to try and do what Indiana did against Penn State, which is put eight guys in the box and then blitz an extra edge rusher to try and thwart its read option attack between Barkley and quarterback Trace McSorley.

Head coach James Franklin admitted that his squad has to get better at running the football in between the tackles, mentioning his offensive lineman have to sustain blocks just a bit longer in the run game.

“We’ve got to sustain the block for a half second longer and we’re through there. We sustained the block on Trace’s one run a few weeks ago and it’s a 45-yard gain, if not a touchdown,” said Franklin. “We sustain a block on one of Saquon’s runs (and) instead of a 4-yard gain or a 6-yard gain, with Saquon it’s a big one.”

Penn State will try to get its running game back on track this week on the road at Northwestern. The Wildcats (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) always play the Nittany Lions tough, especially on their home turf, and actually have won their last two matchups against Penn State.

In fact, Franklin has never beaten Northwestern the three times his teams at Vanderbilt and Penn State have faced it.

“Offensively, defensively and special teams, they are going to play hard. They are going to be fundamentally sound,” said Franklin. “They have good schemes, but what you see is what you get. It’s been a really nice model for them and it’s going to be a challenge.”

Against the run this season Northwestern hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been good, giving up close to 150 yards per game. Even after last week’s lackluster performance, Penn State is still averaging 179 yards per game on the ground.

Simply put, the offensive line does need to be better. If the offensive line can road grade and drive the middle of the Northwestern defense up the field, Barkley will then have the room to get to the second level, which is all he needs to make a 5 or 6-yard play into a 30-yard rush. If the offensive line can just be a little more consistent, the Penn State running attack could be very hard to deal with.

Northwestern will almost certainly stack the box to stop Barkley, which means McSorley will have opportunities to make plays in the passing game. Every week you’re going to see every team go with the ‘Make McSorley Beat Us Approach’ and he’s been pretty good at doing just that to the opposition since he’s taken over as the Nittany Lions signal caller.

The Wildcats are susceptible to the pass as they’ve given up close to 240 yards per game, and the Nittany Lions are averaging an impressive 292 yards per game through the air. McSorley is leading the Big Ten in passing as he’s thrown for 1,352 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions.

McSorley was explosive last year and really burst onto the scene. As noted, this season he’s been even better, and maybe his most important statistic is that Penn State is 5-0. Franklin sees a lot of improvements in McSorley’s game and skill set from a season ago.

“The first five games [last year], our record was 3-2. Right now our record is 5-0. I think the most important stat that you have as a quarterback is wins and losses, and he’s 5-0 compared to 3-2,” said Franklin.

I will go further. Completion percentage: first five games from last year was 58 percent and he’s at 65 percent this year. Touchdown to interception ratio: last year in the first five games he had six touchdowns and three interceptions. Right now he has 12 and four. I think he’s pretty much better in every metric possible.”

Defensively, it needs to be business as usual for Penn State. The Nittany Lions defense is allowing just 9.4 points per game and 289 yards of total offense per game.

The keys in this one will be stop veteran running back Justin Jackson and experienced signal caller Clayton Thorson.

Jackson has not gotten off to the best start this season, rushing for only 273 yards and four touchdowns. Thorson has been decent, throwing for just over a 1,000 yards, but hasn’t been very efficient with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.

It’s the same story this week for the Nittany Lions “D.” They have to create pressure on Thorson, who can run a bit, so the linebackers will need to read their keys and must bottle up the line of scrimmage against the run. Penn State has done a solid job against the run this season, giving up 127 yards per game.

Las Vegas has Penn State as a 14-point favorite. This will be a tough one early, but I think the offensive line comes to play this week and they wear down the Wildcats as the game goes on. I think Barkley has a few big runs in this one and I also think McSorley will be solid as well.

My pick is Penn State 38, Northwestern 17.