Know Your Opponent: Penn State Nittany Lions

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Head Coach: James Franklin

Overall: 74-36 (ninth season)

Bowl Appearances at Penn State: Seven

2021 Record: 7-6 (4-5)

Mascot: Nittany Lion

Colors: Blue and White

Outfitter: Nike

National Titles: Two (1982 and 1986)

Conference Titles: 5 (1891, 1994, 2005, 2008, 2016)

Heisman Winners: 1

Last Week: 44-31 loss to Ohio State

Statistical Leaders

Passing: Sean Clifford (62.8%, 16 TDs and 6 INTs)

Rushing: Nick Singleton (606 yards with 6.31 yards per carry, 7 TDs)

Receiving: Parker Washington (41 catches for 567 yards with two TDs)

Tackles: Ji’Ayir Brown – 49 tackles

Stat of the Week: Penn State will bring a pair of very talented freshmen running backs to Bloomington. The two leading rushers for the Nittany Lions are Nicholas Singleton (6.31 average) and Kaytron Allen (5.24 average). The Indiana Hoosiers are giving up 3.6 yards per carry and the defense will need to be locked in to defend these two backs plus mobile quarterback Sean Clifford.

Nittany Lions Talking Points

1.    Chance For Ten Wins

Penn State lost to Michigan and Ohio State and have clearly landed third in the pecking order, well behind the monsters of the league. There is a belief that with the young talent they have accumulated and continue to bring in, they might be close to changing the status quo in the Big Ten. That won’t happen this year but getting to ten wins for the first time since 2019 is the goal now for PSU and they need to beat IU plus three other Big Ten foes to get there. After an emotional and hard-fought contest against OSU, will the Nittany Lions be focused on this particular goal when they kick off against IU?

2.    QB Conundrum

Sean Clifford has played a lot of football for James Franklin and the Nittany Lions. He is in his sixth season and fans are clamoring for highly-touted freshman Drew Allar to get more snaps over the veteran Clifford. Allar has seen action in most of the Penn State games but it has largely come in fourth-quarter mop-up duty. Allar is completing 58.1 percent of his passes on 6.7 yards per attempt while Clifford is completing 62.8 percent on 7.8 yards per attempt. Granted, the sample size is small so those numbers don’t tell much of a meaningful story. Now that a Big Ten title is off the table, will Penn State mix Allar into the game more? IU will have to prepare for both signal-callers.

3.    Holding Up To Pressure

The last time IU’s offensive line faced one of the Big Ten’s best teams, they were embarrassed by the Michigan Wolverines and position coach Darren Hiller was let go. This will be a significant test for new line coach Rod Carey and the Hoosier line as they’ll face a talented PSU defense that has sacked the quarterback sixteen times this campaign. Specifically, Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter are extremely talented young players that can bring havoc to IU’s backfield. The offensive line will have needed to use the bye week very well to show improvement in this one.