It's Homecoming weekend at State College and it's also Penn State's BIG 10 home opener. The Nittany Lions will welcome thousands of alumni back to their ole' stomping grounds along with BIG 10 foe Northwestern. They will also be looking to improve to 5-0, which they haven't been since the 2008 season when they started out 9-0.

The Penn State running game finally made an appearance last Saturday. The Nittany Lions rushed for a season-high 228 yards, which was better than their previous three games combined (227). To be realistic, it was against a UMass defense that was giving up 218 rushing yards per game. So, is it really that impressive? Who cares, the Penn State run game has been basically non-existent, so they had to get things going no matter who it was against. Football is as much a confidence game as it is about physical talent, so with offensive line and running backs having some success maybe it will turn the run game around.For those of you Penn State fans that are huge statistics people, you're probably disappointed with Christian Hackenberg's performance last Saturday. "Hack" wasn't the sharpest (12-23-179-0 TDs), but still it was obvious that UMass was keying heavily on the passing game. Hackenberg is still leading the BIG 10 in passing yards per game and ranks 13th nationally. Something the sophomore quarterback has to improve on this week is getting the Nittany Lions some points in the red zone. Penn State's 27 points per game is a little skewed due to its 48-point performance last week and I think even the coaching staff would tell you that they left some touchdowns on the field."To me, I don't really evaluate things by one game or a series or a play, it's overall," said Penn State coach James Franklin. "Let's be honest, for most of this season so far, he's shouldered a lot of the offense. So, now that the running game is getting going, I think that's going to be really, really helpful, but like always, we're evaluating quarterbacks about third down percentage, which we're doing a really nice job of. Red zone, getting the ball in the end zone, which we need to do a better job of. Touchdown to interception ratio, but most importantly, wins and losses."Defensively, Penn State has been playing like the days of old. They've been stingy against the run and they've been doing an incredible job of not allowing the big play. PSU is ranked 10th overall in the country in total defense, sixth in scoring defense, and first nationally in rushing defense.Like most good defenses, it all starts upfront and the Blue and White have two very serious young men playing at the defensive tackle positions. Anthony Zettel, who I talked about in last week's column and his partner in dominance, Austin Johnson. Johnson is a 6-3, 315-pound monster, who athletically is as gifted as any at his respective position. Johnson might not be lighting up the stat sheet, but his size and athleticism has drawn a ton of double teams, which allows the other members of the defensive line to exploit the mismatches."They're having to double team him, he's six foot three, six foot four, 315 pounds. Probably the most athletic 315-pound guy I've been around," said Franklin. "The thing I like the most about him is every time I see him when he walks in the building or he's out at practice he's got a huge smile on his face. He's unbelievably appreciative about being at Penn State and having a great experience. I think he's got a chance to continue to be a special player for us and we're going to need him to be. When you can dominate the line of scrimmage on the defensive line or the offensive line, you have a chance to be successful."The Penn State defense will need to be extremely focused later today (noon ET, BTN) as the up tempo no huddle offense of Northwestern is coming to town. Anytime you're facing an up tempo offense depth is key, which could be a concern for the Nittany Lions, considering their depth issues. Wildcats' quarterback Trevor Siemian (65 of 110, 614 yds, 2 TD/3 INT) is a veteran quarterback, who has been around the block a time or two. He knows exactly what he wants to do on almost every snap, so the Penn State defense must be ready to challenge him.Something Franklin mentioned in his weekly press conference that I thoroughly enjoyed was the fact that he wants PSU's defensive backs to challenge the opposition's receiving routes more throughout a ball game. I've always thought over the years that Penn State has played too much zone coverage and that if you have the athletes then let them go out there and play. We'll see on Saturday if that's the case.Northwestern is coming into the game at 1-2 (0-0 BIG 10) with losses to California and Northern Illinois. They defeated Western Illinois last week 24-7.Hackenberg will look to have a bounce back week on the offensive side of the ball and with the Wildcats giving up almost 260 yards through the air there's no reason to think that he won't. There's no denying the solid play of the defense, but I think for the Penn State offense to be balanced in both the run and the pass it has to get off to a good start. If the Nittany Lions can put together a long drive to start the ball game by both running and passing the football then I think they'll be in good shape.Las Vegas has the Nittany Lions favored by 11.5 points. My pick is Penn State 38, Northwestern 20.