Chances are, if you watched Saturday's thrilling 34-29 victory against Northwestern, you wouldn't have noticed it.

Most didn't.

But while the Nittany Lions spent the entire first half digging a hole for themselves, and an entire second climbing out of that hole, Paul Posluszny was a man possessed.

On Saturday, the junior tri-captain recorded the quietest 22 tackles a linebacker can possibly tally. His tackle total was the most by a Penn State player since Bill Banks recorded 24 tackles against NC State in 1977.

For his efforts, the outside linebacker was awarded Big Ten defensive player of the week honors for the second time in his career.

"The defensive line did a great job of keeping the offensive linemen away from the linebackers," Posluszny said. "Any time that happens, we can just roam and get to the football."

Posluszny is second in the Big Ten in tackles with 48, averaging 12.2 per game.

Day to remember

Offense: Big plays made all day, especially from the young receivers. Derrick Williams caught the game-winning touchdown pass with 51 seconds left, his first touchdown as a Lion. Freshman wideout and State College High product Jordan Norwood proved that his small frame isn't a deterrent from him going across the middle. The freshman hauled in five catches -- a career high -- for 83 yards on the day.

Defense: After surrendering an uncharacteristic 23 first half points to the Wildcats, the defense only gave up six points in the second half, keeping the Lions in the game with a chance to pull it out at the end. Senior cornerback Anwar Phillips sealed the victory with a late interception.

Day to forget

Offense: Turnovers. Turnovers. Turnovers. The Lions committed four in the first half, leading to 13 points for the Wildcats. On a day when quarterback Michael Robinson led a dramatic comeback for his team, he'd also like to not throw three interceptions -- not all of which were his fault -- and fumble four times, one of which was lost.

Defense: The spread offense presented the defense with some big problems. On the opening drive for the Wildcats, they marched down the field 80 yards on 16 plays, ending with a touchdown.

"It just seemed like they were nicking us here and there. They just had our number," Posluszny said. "We didn't expect that to happen. It was really frustrating at first."

Quotable

On Chris Harrell's near fatal late-hit penalty on Wildcat quarterback Brett Basanez in the fourth quarter, which would have forced Northwestern to punt deep in its own territory with the Lions down two points: "That could have changed the whole course of the game," Posluszny said. "But we could have folded at that point, but you just have to know there's always going to be adversity. None of these games are going to be easy. Nothing will be given to us."

Did you notice?

Freshman wideout Justin King has only caught two passes the entire season; both, however, were for touchdowns. ... After the Lions scored their final touchdown, they decided to go for an extra point -- which only put them up five points. If they would have gone for two, they would have been up six points, and if the Wildcats drove down and scored a touchdown, there still would have been the possibility for the Lions to block an extra point. The moral of the story here: what difference does it make if you're winning by five or four?

Extra Point

For the first time this season, true freshmen were allowed to speak to the media. King, Norwood and Williams were all brought out into the post-game media room -- dressed dapperly, of course, in their requisite suits.