Hoosier Huddle's Game Day Primer: Indiana Hoosiers vs. No. 15 Penn State Nittany Lions
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Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
What: Indiana Hoosiers (3-5) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-2)
When: Saturday, November 5 at 3:30 EST
Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN
How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on ABC and can be heard on the IU Radio Network.
Series History: As is the case with the other two giants in the Big Ten East, IU’s series against the Penn State Nittany Lions is a lopsided one. The Hoosiers and PSU have played 25 times with the Nittany Lions winning 23 of those meetings. The first contest was in 1993 with Joe Paterno’s squad besting Bill Mallory’s Hoosiers 38-31. IU’s two wins came in 2013 as the Nittany Lions brought a shell of a team to Bloomington in the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked State College and the PSU program and 2020 when Indiana stunned the Nittany Lions with the famous Michael Penix dive across the pylon for the 36-35 victory. Last year, IU lost 24-0 in State College.
What’s at Stake: Penn State lost to both Ohio State and Michigan and now know they will not be winning the division or the conference or competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff. However, they have a very real shot at winning ten games, reaching a major bowl game and building momentum with a young squad for a potential breakthrough in 2023. Indiana is sinking on a five-game losing streak and has virtually no shot at bowl eligibility after losing to Rutgers. They’ll need to upset Penn State or Ohio State and beat Michigan State and Purdue to reach six wins.
Picks For Tonight:
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A FEW THINGS TO LOOK FOR
1. Who Starts at QB?
This is a repeat of the first thing to look for point in the week one primer. The answer to that question was ultimately Connor Bazelak and he’s been IU’s quarterback for each snap (minus a few Wildcat snaps) so far this season. However, coming out of the bye week, Tom Allen made it clear that everything was up for evaluation and that included the quarterback position. Connor Bazelak was not made available for the media earlier this week, something that has occurred in each previous week. Allen also was asked who the starter would be on Saturday and he responded that we would all find out at game time. That indicates there is a change coming and the only thing that makes sense is for Dexter Williams to get his chance. Jack Tuttle has already announced he is transferring after this season and best chance for Williams to develop and for IU to see what he can do against good opposition is to put the talented dual-threat option on the field.
2. Bye Week Changes
After five straight defeats, the Indiana Hoosiers had a bye week. The break represents a chance to evaluate what was working and what was not and figure out what changes can be made to try and improve the play on the field. Josh Sales and Khalil Benson are expected to see an increased number of snaps at right tackle and right guard. It seems likely Jaylin Lucas is going to be featured a bit more in the offense. They’ll need to find a way to manufacture offense without leading receiver Cam Camper (out for the season with an ACL injury) and do so against a very good PSU defense. The coaches certainly know a lot has to change from what the Hoosiers have put on the field in the past month-plus but how much different can things look after one week off with mounting injuries?
3. Can IU Slow Down Young PSU Stars?
The IU defense has had a rocky season. There have certainly been times when they’ve looked really good and have kept the Hoosiers competitive despite the offense not being able to possess the ball consistently. However, on the whole, those times have been too fleeting and the number of big plays IU has surrendered has been concerning and costly. The defense will have its hands full with a fantastic duo of freshmen running backs from Penn State in Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen. Singleton averages 6.31 yards per carry and he has the explosive ability to burn IU if they miss a tackle or blow a gap assignment. Allen carries it just about the same number of times each game and averages 5.24 yards per carry. He’s not quite as explosive but very physical and together, the duo is really tough to contain. IU’s gameplan will be to make PSU one-dimensional and try and force Sean Clifford into mistakes on third down passes. If they can’t slow down the two backs, it’ll be another long afternoon in Bloomington.