Game Day Primer: Indiana Hoosiers at Penn State Nittany Lions
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Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
What: Indiana Hoosiers (2-1) at Penn State Nittany Lions (4-0)
When: Saturday, September 30 at 3:30 pm
Where: Beaver Stadium in State College, PA
How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network. Fans can also listen to the game on the IU Radio Network with the legendary Don Fischer on the call.
What’s at Stake: Indiana has never won at Beaver Stadium so beating the #4 Nittany Lions would be a historic victory for the Hoosiers. It would also put Indiana in terrific position to make their third straight bowl game as games against Charleston Southern, Rutgers and Illinois remain on the schedule. A loss would not be costly for the Hoosiers so you could reasonably assert that IU is “playing with house money” on Saturday as they enter the contest as nearly three-touchdown underdogs. Of course, Tom Allen and his staff expect the Hoosiers to compete and have a chance to win every game they play and IU will hope to break their “oh-fer” streak in State College. On the other side, the Nittany Lions know they can’t afford a slipup against IU if they are to make the College Football Playoff and come out as winners of the Big Ten East for a second straight season. Saquon Barkley will also look to continue earning his place among the favorites for the Heisman Trophy.
A Few Things to Look For
Possessing the Ball and Controlling the Tempo – Penn State has one of the more explosive offenses in college football. Saquon Barkley and Trace McSorley are perhaps the nation’s best backfield duo and they have a number of weapons in the passing game, including Mike Gesicki and some good receivers. PSU’s offense is going to score some points, that’s inevitable and a unit that is averaging more than 40 points per game is not going to be completely shut down. That being said, IU has a pretty good defense that performed pretty well against Barkley last season. But perhaps the best way to contain the Nittany Lions attack would be to keep them on the sideline by controlling the tempo and maintaining the possession of the ball. That means the Hoosiers will need a good performance from their offensive line and from running backs Morgan Ellison and Cole Gest. The short to intermediate passing game from Richard Lagow to guys like Simmie Cobbs and Luke Timian and perhaps J-Shun Harris or even Devonte Williams will need to be on point as well. Those short passes can act as an extension of the running game, which may be required to help the Hoosiers offense maintain rhythm. I would expect IU to play at a slightly slower pace than normal. They will still use tempo in spots and once they pick up a few first downs on a drive and get PSU’s defense on its heels but I expect more of a ball-control attack in order to try and help the Hoosiers defense.
Banged Up D – Indiana will need a number of depth pieces to step up because it appears quite a few Hoosiers will be missing on Saturday due to injuries. Nate Hoff and Juan Harris are both considered unlikely to play. The status of A’Shon Riggins, Rashard Fant and Marcelino Ball is unknown. Kiante Walton is out for an extended period of time after surgery this past week. Those are just the defensive injuries. Mike Majette, Simon Stepaniak and Donavan Hale are all unknowns as well. Winning at Penn State is an extremely difficult task at any time, it becomes even more difficult with the injuries piled high.
Special Teams in a Big Game – Indiana has gotten stellar play thus far from Haydon Whitehead, Griffin Oakes and J-Shun Harris and it appears special teams is a real strength for the Hoosiers. Georgia Southern had a couple of nice returns last Saturday but that could have been more a result of the large lead for the Hoosiers than it was a concern for the future for IU’s coverage units. Still, IU will be tested in that regard on Saturday as Saquon Barkley will likely continue to return kicks for the Nittany Lions (if the game is at all in doubt, that is). Will PSU punt to J-Shun Harris or will teams start to avoid him at all costs? Can Whitehead flip field position for IU and help the defense against this explosive attack? Will Griffin Oakes continue his stellar 2017 season if called upon? If IU is to pull off an upset or two this season, winning the special teams battle will almost certainly be a part of the recipe that helps the Hoosiers “breakthrough”.
Hoosier Huddle will have extensive pre and post-game coverage of this and every other game of the 2017 season!