#4 Penn State Handle Toothless Hoosiers
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Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
The Indiana Hoosiers (2-3) entered Saturday night’s contest at #4 Penn State (5-0) having never won in State College. They never threatened to make history as the offense struggled to get anything going and the Nittany Lions cruised to a 24-0 victory to stay unbeaten on the season while IU drops to 2-3 heading into a much-needed bye week. To add injury to insult, the Hoosiers lost Michael Penix to a shoulder injury and Reese Taylor left the game with an apparent upper leg issue.
IU had the first possession of the game and it was quickly apparent the offense was going to have a long night. The Hoosiers went three and out and punted the ball away. Penn State’s offense got a first down but had to punt the ball away after a good stand from the IU defense. The Hoosiers found success with a pass across the middle to Peyton Hendershot for 35 yards but they were unable to move it any further, punting it away. Penn State found some rhythm on the ensuing drive, moving the ball across midfield. The Nittany Lions went for it on fourth and seven and Sean Clifford completed a pass for a first down to keep the drive alive. A few plays later, Clifford found Brenton Strange for a ten-yard touchdown to put PSU ahead 7-0. IU did not respond positively, going three and out yet again. The Hoosiers got a spark as Raheem Layne intercepted a Sean Clifford pass and returned it to the 13-yard line. The Hoosiers got to the four-yard line and attempted to convert a fourth and one but their run up the middle was stuffed well short, giving the ball back to Penn State. The Nittany Lions marched 97 yards on nine plays and scored on a beautiful catch by Jahan Dotson to make it 14-0. The two teams traded punts before IU got a bit aggressive on offense and completed consecutive passes to move into Penn State territory. Michael Penix then lobbed a pass down the sideline and it was intercepted by the Nittany Lions to kill any momentum the Hoosiers could have had. The half ended with a 14-0 scoreline.
Penn State began the second half with the ball and got one first down but were forced to punt as the IU defense attempted to keep the Hoosiers in the game. Michael Penix converted a first down with a nice pass to Javon Swinton but a couple of plays later, he was dropped on the outside of the pocket and landed on his shoulder, immediately signaling that he was in pain. IU’s quarterback left the game and went to the locker room, quickly being ruled out of the remainder of the contest with a potentially major injury that may end another season. Jack Tuttle was sacked on his first play in and the Hoosiers had to punt. Sean Clifford extended plays with his feet to keep the next Penn State drive alive and then on fourth and four, he did it again and flipped to Dotson for another touchdown to make it 21-0. Jack Tuttle engineered IU’s best drive of the day as the Hoosiers moved it inside of the red zone but Swinton could not haul in a pass in the end zone on third down and IU attempted a 30-yard field goal. Campbell’s boot was blocked, keeping the shutout alive. Penn State drove against a gassed and injury-depleted IU defense and got inside the five-yard line but the Hoosiers showed fight and stuffed them at the one on fourth down. The offense did not get anything going and punted the ball back to Penn State, giving them the ball on the IU 32-yard line. The Hoosier defense refused to give up though, giving up no yardage and forcing a 50-yard field goal attempt that was good to make the score 24-0. Jack Tuttle picked up a couple of first downs with his legs but threw an interception to end the drive. IU would not threaten again and the game ended 24-0.
There were no good offensive performances but the best of the mostly anemic bunch was Peyton Hendershot who had four catches for 81 yards. IU was outgained 398-249 as Dotson paced the Nittany Lions with 84 yards and two touchdowns. The Hoosiers were shutout for the first time since a 2000 game against Michigan. They now get a bye week and need to figure out how to regroup for the second half of their season.