Hoosiers Fumble Away Chance at Upset, Fall to 4-4

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers and the Penn State Nittany Lions both entered today’s contest on losing streaks and in desperate need of a victory. Despite a much better overall performance than what was seen last week in Bloomington, the Indiana Hoosiers came up short against the 18th ranked Nittany Lions, falling 33-28. The defeat was largely due to special teams miscues and a trio of fumbles that proved to be fatal for the underdog Hoosiers.

The game started with a long kick return by KJ Hamler that gave the Nittany Lions a short field that they capitalized on. Miles Sanders punched in a touchdown from one yard out to put the Nittany Lions ahead 7-0. Indiana responded nicely, mixing the run and the pass to march down the field on an eight play scoring drive that was capped by a Stevie Scott touchdown run. After the team’s traded punts, Penn State went for a fake punt on fourth and five that was stuffed by Peyton Hendershot. IU took advantage of the short field and Ronnie Walker scampered in for a 30 yard touchdown to give the Hoosiers the lead. Penn State scored ten unanswered points prior to halftime while Indiana lost out on a great opportunity, failing on a fourth and one from the ten yard line. The score was 17-14 Penn State as the team’s headed into the locker room at the half.

Indiana moved the ball well on the ground to begin the second half but Ronnie Walker fumbled and Penn State recovered to thwart momentum. The Nittany Lions could only add a field goal to make it 20-14. True freshman quarterback Michael Penix finally saw some game time for the Hoosiers and his presence sparked the team and seemed to provide a different level of energy to the atmosphere. However, he was hit in the head and the leg and left the game with what appeared to be a serious lower leg injury. Peyton Ramsey led the Hoosiers on a nice drive to take the lead back as Stevie Scott dove into the end zone to put IU up 21-20. The Nittany Lions immediately took back control, returning the ensuing kickoff to the five yard line and scoring on a Trace McSorley rush on the next play. The Hoosiers passing game was completely unhinged without Penix and the Nittany Lions were able to seize control, adding another McSorley rushing touchdown to go ahead 33-21. IU scored on a Ramsey strike to J-Shun Harris with under a minute to play. They were able to recover the onside kick after the initial attempt was whistled dead thanks to a James Franklin called timeout. However, IU’s comeback was squashed as a holding penalty was followed by a sack. The Hoosiers were in a hole they could not dig out of and they fell 33-28.

IU outrushed and outgained the Nittany Lions but they were felled by the two long kick returns they surrendered and the turnovers that killed drives. The Hoosiers played well enough to beat some of the remaining teams on their schedule but they must rally quickly to win what is as close to a “must win” contest as possible this Friday at Minnesota.