Numbers That Mattered in Indiana's Loss to Penn State

Marcelino Ball and the Hoosiers just couldn't make the play to beat Penn State. image: Cam Koenig HoosierHuddle.com

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Indiana fell to Penn State 45-31 on Saturday to even their record at 5-5 (3-4) and put up some record numbers. However, the numbers that mattered did not add up to victory for the Hoosiers.

Five- The most obvious number that mattered was the five fumbles that Indiana lost. They had come into the game having just lost just four fumbles all year. Some of the turnovers were more costly than others, but it was too much for Indiana to overcome.

17- Giving up 45 points doesn’t look good for a defense on paper, but the IU defense played extremely well as 17 of the point Penn State score were the result of turnovers and really bad field position. In reality, IU’s defense gave up 28 points while the offense and special teams gifted PSU 17.

16- Speaking of the IU defense, they accounted for 16 tackles for a loss. It was the highest total number of TFLs for an IU defense in Big Ten play since 1998. The attack was led by linebacker Tegrey Scales who finished with four tackles for loss, the fifth most in school history for a single game. 

1.8- Saquon Barkley came into the game as the Big Ten’s leading rusher and the Indiana defense suffocated the Penn State rushing attack holding Barkley and the team to a 1.8-yard per carry average. Barkley finished with 60 yards on 33 carries.

8-for-80- The Hoosiers committed eight penalties for 80 yards on Saturday, most of them coming at the absolute worst moments of the game.

5-for 5- Penn State was five-for-five in the red zone scoring four touchdowns and a field goal. It’s easy to win games when a team gets 31 of a possible 35 points from inside the 20.