Pregame for Penn State-Northwestern

Hello from Purplepalooza, where the sun is out, the wind is whipping and the portable lights are blazing.

Injury update:
Senior cornerback Sherrick McManis is nowhere to be seen with the NU secondary, which means sophomore walk-on Ricky Weina will be asked to replicate his second-half magic in last week's Indiana rally.

If Weina starts, he'll be the ninth Wildcat to start in the secondary this year and the 20th defensive starter overall. That's a lot, especially when you consider all of the changes (with the possible exception of DT Adam Hahn's move in front of Marshall Thomas) have been injury-related.

Senior safety Brendan Smith looks ready to go with a wrapped cast protecting his broken left thumb.

Wind update:
It's windy. Mostly blowing straight across the field to the east. From a TV perspective, the wind will be going from near to far.

Crowd update:
Lots of Penn State fans here, which makes this easily the biggest gate of the year.

JoePa update:
He's standing on the goal line watching his quarterbacks chuck the ball into (and with) the wind. Doesn't look cold.

Darnell Autry update:
The former All-American running back is supposed to be painted purple today, but no sight of him yet. I know he's a tough guy, but I'm hoping he won't be bare-chested out here. If that's to be the case, he won't need the paint to look purple.

LW