I'm not complaining about winning at Happy Valley. In fact, among my friend group, I was the most leery of Penn State, given that most of their losses have been tight and that they still have a VERY talented roster.
What we saw on offense wasn't overly surprising, since injuries have started to hit us and we saw Iowa do similar things.
Defensively, I was surprised against the run game. Talented backs and line? Sure. I didn't feel like our D-Line got pushed around...I thought we held our own at the point of attack, but then unlike almost every other game this year, their backs came busting through the lines. Did they just keep our D Line more engaged and we were unable to get off of blocks and tackle? Was our tackling uncharacteristically poor? Were they just better than we've faced?
It was strange to me that Cig sort of shrugged off them bringing more guys than we have blockers as 'not much you can do' attitude. I'm sure he doesn't mean it that way but it sounded that way. He seemed to say just get the ball out quickly and 'in rhythm' .
Seems like Shanahan should be more ready for this by now. It's how the tougher defenses play us now.
Penn State rushed 33 times for 117 yards. That’s 3.5 per carry.
That included a 59 yard run.
The other 32 rushes resulted in 58 yards. That’s 1.8 per carry.
I thought our run defense was fine.
Allen and Singleton are two of the best running backs in Penn State history. They are NFL guys and it showed. IU's tackling was poor though. Over 10 missed tackles Saturday.
Again the PSU defense has a couple studs in Zane Durant, Dani Dennis-Sutton and Dom Deluca.
To me IU had a chance to kill the beast after the Fisher INT and settled for a field goal. IU also had the ball up 20-10 at midfield late in the third/ early 4th. IU left a crack in the door and Penn State busted through it like the Kool-Aid man. These guys were re-energized and gave the crowd something to get excited about.
I think Josh Pate said it best. It was't 3-5 PSU vs. 9-0 IU at that time it was just Penn State vs. IU. Two very talented football teams playing a great game.
Penn State rushed 33 times for 117 yards. That’s 3.5 per carry.
That included a 59 yard run.
The other 32 rushes resulted in 58 yards. That’s 1.8 per carry.
I thought our run defense was fine.
The same thing happened with ND. Outside of that long run by Love, ND avg 2.2ypc. They just made timely play after timely play.
Penn State rushed 33 times for 117 yards. That’s 3.5 per carry.
That included a 59 yard run.
The other 32 rushes resulted in 58 yards. That’s 1.8 per carry.
I thought our run defense was fine.
To add on to your point, PSU was held to like 29 yards rushing in the first half. I couldn't believe it at the time. The second half was just another story altogether. I don't have an explanation for it. Maybe just our habit of giving up big plays here & there on defense + two of the best backs in the B1G running at us.
Penn State rushed 33 times for 117 yards. That’s 3.5 per carry.
That included a 59 yard run.
The other 32 rushes resulted in 58 yards. That’s 1.8 per carry.
I thought our run defense was fine.
Man, it just didn't feel that way. But those numbers are good. I just looked at the drive charts and they did a good job of dinking and dunking us. I felt like we got them behind the sticks plenty on 1 and 2 down, but couldn't get them off of the field as successfully as normal.
On the replay angle I saw of that long run that's been referenced, that umpire looks like he shielded 3 IU defenders from making the tackle, not just shielded Ponds, so it's a 5 yard gain.
I haven't gone back to look yet, on that swing pass that gave them the lead it sure as hell looked like a possible block in the back by the Penn St. WR that sprung that play.
Indiana has been remarkably good at dropping the hammer these last two seasons. It was a missed opportunity last week, think we lost offensive play call aggressiveness to exploit their secondary and it wasn't in the cards to salt this game away by imposing our will on the ground.
We need to get healthy...
This game felt similar to the Michigan game last year... Penn State, for much of that game, showed their talent and depth advantage.
As good as we've been, we're still not deep enough to withstand this many injuries, and compete with legit CFP contenders.
I still like our chances against really anyone, on a neutral field, but I don't like our chances of beating 2-3 elite level teams in a row, if we don't get fully healthy.
Penn State rushed 33 times for 117 yards. That’s 3.5 per carry.
That included a 59 yard run.
The other 32 rushes resulted in 58 yards. That’s 1.8 per carry.
I thought our run defense was fine.
To add on to your point, PSU was held to like 29 yards rushing in the first half. I couldn't believe it at the time. The second half was just another story altogether. I don't have an explanation for it. Maybe just our habit of giving up big plays here & there on defense + two of the best backs in the B1G running at us.
Thank you for the stats Kelly, but I agree with TMFT that the stats don't account for how they punched through us for those last two TDs. I felt when watching that Tucker (in particular) had lost his will to compete in the sense that PSU "imposed their will" and there wasn't much we could do about it. The body language for the PSU OL v. our DL was not good. You could tell as just a fan watching that IU was unlikely to get a stop.
The whole scenario reminded me a lot of what happened to the IU O against Michigan last year. The O was being dominated but the D held up until the O was finally able to make a play or two.
Football is such a fascinating game, also a demanding one.....I think once they got the lead PSU 'relaxed' a little and somehow we got back a little of our mojo---enough to force a punt. Maybe their D did the same after their last sack.
I also feel like the O has a whole had not been as 'traumatized' by the 4th quarter going-ons as had the D.
In general, I think our OL and DL play closer to their potential more of the time than any other line units in the BT. However, concerning the D, I'm discouraged that Fisher and the other leaders of the D weren't able to rally to the fight a little more in the 4th.
What's also interesting is that when our O or our D 'lay down' the other unit is generally there to pick things up.
We need to get healthy...
This game felt similar to the Michigan game last year... Penn State, for much of that game, showed their talent and depth advantage.
As good as we've been, we're still not deep enough to withstand this many injuries, and compete with legit CFP contenders.
I still like our chances against really anyone, on a neutral field, but I don't like our chances of beating 2-3 elite level teams in a row, if we don't get fully healthy.
Agree with all of this....
OSU really concerns me in the sense that they may have a third gear that we rarely see. I think their O in the 2nd half against PSU is evidence of that. The DL and LBs will have to play their asses off that week to create some doubt in their OL. IF their OL gives Sayin time to throw deep to Smith & Tate we're in trouble.
I've seen Oregon and the top 3 SEC teams a number of times and I don't see the same dynamic potential from those teams.
Penn State rushed 33 times for 117 yards. That’s 3.5 per carry.
That included a 59 yard run.
The other 32 rushes resulted in 58 yards. That’s 1.8 per carry.
I thought our run defense was fine.
Man, it just didn't feel that way. But those numbers are good. I just looked at the drive charts and they did a good job of dinking and dunking us. I felt like we got them behind the sticks plenty on 1 and 2 down, but couldn't get them off of the field as successfully as normal.
I wish our safeties has played come up and played tighter, as they haven't thrown the deep ball much this year even before the #1 guy go hurt. Seemed like they hit us over the middle a # of times on 3rd and long when the QB was able throw deep middle of the field touch passes over our LBers. We weren't getting enough of a pass rush to deter it.
Other than Ponds, it didn't seem like the DBs had a good day, esp. Sharpe.
I'm not complaining about winning at Happy Valley. In fact, among my friend group, I was the most leery of Penn State, given that most of their losses have been tight and that they still have a VERY talented roster.
What we saw on offense wasn't overly surprising, since injuries have started to hit us and we saw Iowa do similar things.
Defensively, I was surprised against the run game. Talented backs and line? Sure. I didn't feel like our D-Line got pushed around...I thought we held our own at the point of attack, but then unlike almost every other game this year, their backs came busting through the lines. Did they just keep our D Line more engaged and we were unable to get off of blocks and tackle? Was our tackling uncharacteristically poor? Were they just better than we've faced?
I think you answered your thread title question in your first paragraph.
People shouldn't be fooled by Penn State's record. They're loaded with talent, they're in every game, and their home stadium provides an environment like few others. A win by the visiting team in Happy Valley, no matter the visitor's ranking, is never a given.
Penn State took Oregon to double OT in State College. They lost by five at UCLA, by 1 to Northwestern, by 1 at Iowa, and they were down at the half by just 3 at the Shoe against the Buckeyes.
ESPN's Power Index has Penn State 21st nationally. Sagarin has them at 16. We beat a good team on the road. I don't care about style points. I'll take the W.
I thought the same thing. When we settled for the field goal. TD would have stepped on their neck a little more
Penn St is better than their record indicates. Tons of talent on that roster. That's a quality win by our Hoosiers. Don't care what any pundit wants to say. They were jacked and ready to play. We beat them at their best I believe.
one thing that concerned me was the amount of pressure they were able to put on Mendoza. We have to clean that up or Ohio St will annihilate us
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