Last Saturday afternoon probably wasn't what Gary Walker's doctors had in mind when they told him to take it easy.
Just days removed from being diagnosed with heart inflammation, Northwestern's coach was watching his Wildcats hold on to a 13-10 victory against Purdue.
The key play came on a second-and-goal from the Boilermakers 3-yard line when tailback Noah Herron took a pitch right for the winning touchdown with 38 seconds to go.
It was Herron's 10th touchdown of the season, putting him at the top of the category in the conference along with Minnesota's Marion Barber III.
Wait, Noah Herron? And for that matter, who knows anything about Brett Basanez and Mark Philmore?
Penn State coach Joe Paterno has an idea.
"It is an offensive team that averages over 400 yards a game against good people," Paterno said. "They run the ball well and throw the ball well. This will be a real challenge for [the defense]. I think we will do as well as you can do against a team with the capabilities and balance that Northwestern has offensively."
It's an interesting thing, looking at the Big Ten statistical leaders and seeing those names standing out among names like Barber, Kyle Orton and Braylon Edwards. But very quietly, the Wildcats have honed a surprisingly effective offense led by those names at the skill positions.
Fortunately for the Nittany Lions, Northwestern will be a little shorthanded when it enters Happy Valley tomorrow. While Basanez will be under center and Herron will be in the backfield, Philmore will not be split out wide. Philmore suffered a sprained right knee against Purdue and will be out four to six weeks.
Though the Wildcats have been known in the past for running a pass-happy spread offense under Walker, the key word now, as Paterno said, is balance. And that's something unusual for the Lions defense, which has usually had a pretty good idea of what to expect from its opponents so far this season.
"They're pretty balanced," linebacker Derek Wake said. "Some teams might have one thing for you to key on, but the way they go about attacking the defense is more balanced. So we have to be balanced also, we're gonna have to be real consistent and not allow big plays."
Despite having to fill the void left by the departure of last year's standout tailback Jason Wright, Herron has come on to rush for 863 yards in eight games, trailing only Michigan's Mike Hart and the Minnesota tandem of Barber and Laurence Maroney.
And with the loss of Philmore hurting the passing game, the Wildcats have been toying around with some two-back sets featuring Herron and Terrell Jordan to try and confuse the Lions defense. The Wildcats typically do their best to confuse opposing defenses, relying on misdirection plays to pick up big gains. This could present a problem if the Lions' aggressive front seven gets too anxious and overpursues tomorrow.
"We've been watching them the past few days," Wake said. "We gotta be consistent and read, don't get fooled by the back going one way, because the next thing you know you're outta place from where you should be."
And while the ground game has been kind to the Wildcats the past few seasons, the Lions aren't overlooking the arm of Basanez, even without Philmore. Basanez has thrown for 1,919 yards this season and still has Jonathan Fields as a reliable target. Fields leads the Wildcats with three receiving touchdowns on the season and also has displayed some playmaking ability with one of those scores spanning 69 yards.
Linebacker Paul Posluszny said that he thinks the Wildcats will continue to go to the air.
"They just have a very spread offense and they are going to throw the ball a lot," Posluszny said. "It's not the typical lineup where they line up and run the ball and see who says ouch first. It's not going to be that kind of game."
