EVANSTON-For about two and a half quarters, Northwestern’s defense looked game to pull off an upset of No. 6 Penn State as 26.5-point underdogs on Saturday at Ryan Field. The Wildcat offense, however, wasn’t up to the challenge.

Penn State (5-0, 3-0 Big Ten) outscored the Wildcats 31-3 in the second half to leave sun-splashed Evanston with a 41-13 victory and its perfect record intact.

The Wildcats, on the other hand, were left to ponder what if things had gone a little differently in the third quarter, which they entered tied 10-10.

What if one of two straight very close referee ball placements had earned them a first down, when they were trailing by just a touchdown? What if they had converted their fake punt – or maybe just punted the ball – from deep in their own end when trailing by 10 points?

Northwestern (2-3, 1-2 Big Ten) came up short on those plays, and, ultimately, in the game.

Really, though, the Wildcats couldn't expect to knock off the Nittany Lions when they generated just 175 yards of total offense. The defense, however, might see things differently. They made PSU quarterback Drew Allar look mortal and made the Lions earn every yard.

Northwestern quarterback Ben Bryant was sacked five times, harassed all day and finished 14-of-25 for 122 yards passing before leaving the game in the fourth quarter with an apparent injury. The Wildcats’ ground game was stuck in neutral, putting up 45 rushing yards as the Nittany Lions finished with seven sacks for 47 yards in losses.

Allar had marginally better numbers than Bryant, going 18-for-33 for 189 yards passing, with one touchdown, and Nick Singleton ran for 80 yards and another score. But the Nittany Lions were inconsistent as Northwestern’s defense made life difficult for them all day.

Notoriously slow-starting Northwestern got off to a brilliant start when Singleton fumbled the opening kickoff to give the Wildcats the ball at the PSU 11-yard line. It was the Nittany Lions’ first turnover of the season.

But, in a sign of what was to come, Northwestern’s offense ran three plays for -2 yards, including a false start, and the Wildcats had to settle for a 33-yard Jack Olsen field goal.

That’s sort of the way it went for the Wildcat offense, which had trouble blocking Penn State up front and couldn’t generate much positive yardage. On their first two possessions, the Wildcats ran six plays for -2 yards. They managed just 13 total yards and one first down in the first quarter.

But defense kept the Wildcats in the fight. After forcing a punt, the defense made Penn State snap the ball 11 times and convert a fourth down to go 53 yards. Then, after the Lions got a first down at the NU 10, they stiffened and forced an Alex Felkins field goal.

The Wildcats finally found a rhythm offensively in the second quarter. Cam Porter made two tacklers miss on a swing pass to convert a third-and-16, and Bryant hit Cam Johnson over the middle and he rumbled 22 yards to the PSU 3. Bryant scored on a QB sneak two plays later and the Wildcats had a 10-3 lead after a 10-play, 5:16 drive that swung momentum to the West sideline and amped the student section.

Allar completed just five of his first 12 passes, but he finally heated up at the end of the second quarter. He found KeAndre Lambert-Smith for 25 yards down the sideline, and then Singleton up the middle for 13. The Lions tied the game at 10 with 1:16 left in the half on Trey Pott’s 13-yard run.

Still, the Wildcats were happy going into the locker room tied after putting up some brutal first-half offensive numbers, including -10 rush yards, four sacks, 2.1 yards per play and 59 total yards.

Penn State finally wrested control of the game in the third quarter. On a third-and-10 at midfield, Allar hit Lambert-Smith for 35 yards. The Lions eventually got a first down at the NU 3-yard line, but it took them four plays -- three of them QB sneaks -- to finally punch the ball across the plane and take their first lead at 17-10.

The game turned for good on the next two NU drives. On the first, Bryant scrambled for what was called a first down on third-and-15, but on review he was ruled short. Then, on fourth-and-1, a QB push was ruled short by inches.

Penn State got the ball at the NU 31 with an opportunity to deliver a big blow, but again Northwestern’s defense rose to the occasion, holding the Lions to another Felkins field goal for a 20-10 lead.

Then, David Braun made the decision that would drive the final nail in the Wildcats’ coffin. With Northwestern facing a fourth-and-4 at their own 31, Braun called for a fake punt that fell a yard short. With another short field, Penn State punched in another touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Allar to Liam Clifford and the lead was extended to 27-10, and the game was effectively over.

Braun took two gambles in the third quarter, and they both came up short to extinguish any chance for the upset.

Northwestern mounted one more drive deep into Penn State territory, but facing a third-and-goal at the PSU 1, Bryant was sacked for a 9-yard loss by an unblocked Zane Durant. Bryant was shaken up on the play and left the game, so the Cats opted for an Olsen 28-yard field goal to cut the lead to 27-13.

Penn State added two touchdowns in the final five minutes to make the final score look more lopsided than the game – and cover the spread.