Penn State's fall continues with home upset at hands of Northwestern, Drew Allar injury

ASSOCIATED PRESS

It somehow got worse for Penn State.

Three weeks after being ranked No. 3 in the country, the Nittany Lions took their third straight loss on Saturday at the hands of Northwestern, 22-21. In Happy Valley. They are now 3-3.

In addition to the loss, star quarterback Drew Allar left the game in the final minutes with an apparent lower leg injury after taking a big hit on a failed third-down scramble. He was helped off the field, barely able to put any weight on his right leg, and later carted from the sideline fighting back tears.

Penn State had multiple opportunities to reassert control. They retook the lead three different times after Northwestern got on the board first with a field goal, and each time were unable to stop the Northwestern offense from responding. The same thing happened last week against UCLA, which blew threw the Nittany Lions' defense.

As bad as that UCLA loss might have been, this one could be even worse for reasons beyond recency. To lose to Northwestern, at home, while losing your quarterback and needing a win before a rough schedule stretch, is obscenely bad for head coach James Franklin, to the point that we will have to wait and see if he's allowed to oversee their attempt at a bounceback.