Hoosier Huddle's Game Day Primer: Indiana Hoosiers at No. 10 Penn State

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

What: Indiana Hoosiers (2-5) at Penn State Nittany Lion (6-1)

When: Saturday, October 28 at Noon 

Where: Beaver Stadium in State College, PA

How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on CBS and can be heard on the IU Radio Network.

Series History: This will be the 27th meeting on the gridiron between Indiana and Penn State. The Nittany Lions have dominated the series, winning 24 of the 26 games. That number includes blowout wins in 2021 and 2022 after IU narrowly beat them in 2020 on the famous lunge for the pylon by Michael Penix. The Indiana Hoosiers have never won in State College. 

What’s at Stake: The Penn State Nittany Lions fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes, dropping to 6-1 and strengthening the theory that head coach James Franklin is good enough to beat everyone in the Big Ten except for the “Big Two” of Michigan and Ohio State. That written, PSU still has a shot to win the Big Ten East as they will get to host the Michigan Wolverines. To accomplish their goals, they cannot afford an inexplicable loss against Indiana. The Hoosiers still have a dream of reaching bowl eligibility but they will now need to win four of five down the stretch. As 30-plus point underdogs, this seems like another game for IU to simply try and survive and get to next week. 

A FEW THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. Offense Faces Another Elite Defense

The Indiana offense has had to play a couple of strong defenses (Rutgers, Louisville) and a couple of elite defenses (Michigan, Ohio State) thus far in 2023. The Hoosiers will play another of the latter on Saturday afternoon in State College. Penn State has surrendered only 9.7 points per game and are allowing just 2.32 yards per carry on the season. Offenses are gaining only 3.67 yards per play against the Nittany Lions. The duo of Adisa Isaac (5.5 sacks) and Chop Robinson (3 sacks) are a fearsome pass rushing combination and the Nittany Lions have terrific athletes at all three levels of the defense. Whether or not Brendan Sorsby and the Hoosiers can gain any sort of traction at all against Penn State will be interesting to watch.

2. Forcing the Passing Game to Beat You

Penn State’s offense has lacked a downfield passing threat this season. The Nittany Lions have one top target at wideout: KeAndre Lambert-Smith. The junior has 37 catches while no other wide receiver has more than 15 receptions. Former five-star recruit Drew Allar does not appear to trust his targets down the field and it’s fair to say the PSU coaches don’t trust Drew Allar to try and stretch the offense with vertical passing. That has allowed defenses to play extra defenders in the box against the short passing game and against the dynamic run game of Penn State. The Hoosiers will need to try and slow the running back duo of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, both of whom are averaging more than four yards per carry. For the defense to have a chance to slow the Nittany Lions down, they’ll need to prevent Penn State from getting balance on offense.

3. Mental Approach

The Hoosiers will be hoping the Nittany Lions are not quite locked in after the disappointing defeat in Columbus to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Penn State’s season essentially boils down to the upcoming game against Michigan and they could be excused for sleepwalking a bit against the Hoosiers. That’s something PSU did a few weeks ago for the first half against Northwestern before pulling away for a blowout win. It's also very possible the Hoosiers are far from locked in either. They are now just 2-5 and lost a must-win game against Rutgers thanks to an awful second half and critical special teams errors. Whether or not this game is remotely competitive might come down to which team is focused and ready to play at the opening kickoff.