The #10 Penn State Nittany Lions[7-1] defeat the Unranked Indiana Hoosiers[2-6] 33-24. Next week, Penn State travels to play Maryland while Indiana hosts Wisconsin.
1st Quarter: Indiana Quarterback Brendan Sorsby threw a 90-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver DeQuece Carter. On a Penn State punt, Indiana Punt Returner Camden Jordan muffs the punt and Penn State Safety K.J. Winston recovers at the Indiana 32-yard line. Penn State Quarterback Drew Allar throws a 9-yard touchdown to Tight End Khalil Dinkins.
2nd Quarter: Brendan Sorsby throws a 69-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Donaven McCulley. Penn State Kicker Alex Felkins misses a 51-yard field goal. Penn State Running Back Nicholas Singleton runs in a 2-yard touchdown. Brendan Sorsby throws an interception to Safety Jaylen Reed who returns it to the Indiana 43-yard line. Alex Felkins kicks a 50-yard. Penn State leads 17-14 at halftime.
3rd Quarter: Drew Allar throws a 16-yard touchdown to Tight End Theo Johnson. Indiana Kicker Chris Freeman misses a 36-yard field goal.
4th Quarter: Brendan Sorsby throws a 26-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Omar Cooper Jr. Drew Allar throws an interception to Indiana Defensive Back Josh Sanguinetti which gave Indiana the ball at the Penn State 21-yard line. Chris Freeman kicks a 35-yard field goal. Drew Allar throws a 57-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith. Brendan Sorsby is strip-sacked by Penn State Defensive End Dani Dennis-Sutton and the ball goes out of the endzone for a safety. Penn State wins 33-24.
Nittany Lions Notes:
Offense-Finally some explosive plays. This was the death of Penn State last week and finally, we see big plays. Early on in the game, there was the same offense we had been using but soon the team realized they needed to take advantage of the tight coverage Indiana was playing. I wish they would run the ball more after these explosive plays because Singleton and Allen would likely thrive because of it.
Defense-Poor game until late. The secondary looked like Swiss cheese out there early on and there was no pass rush. Finally, Manny Diaz cooked up some pressure which gave the secondary enough time to keep their coverage locked down or have the front 7 get to the Quarterback. There was some great coaching on defense late in the game.
Effort-This team showed no effort early in this game and I really thought they were going to lose. Missed tackles, no separation on routes, poor coverage, missed throws, not holding onto the ball, etc. Something clicked too late in the game and this team looked like the Penn State team I had been hoping for all year. Hopefully, this was the kick in the pants they needed for a late-season run.
Coaching-Again, early in this game you could get a sense that the team was not prepared. I do not know how James Franklin coached the team this week but it did not help them prepare for this game. The late-game decisions from the coaches helped win this game. Maybe this is a turn for the better going forward.
-Jordan Burden