Turnovers and Special Teams Miscues Doom Hoosiers in 45-14 Defeat

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Saturday afternoon's contest in Beaver Stadium featured the current favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. The Hoosiers were well aware of what Saquon Barkley was capable of and were prepared to try and limit his impact on the proceedings. However, all those well-laid plans were tossed out the window as Barkley took the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and electrified the Nittany Lion faithful. Things quickly went from bad to worse for the Hoosiers as Morgan Ellison fumbled the ball near midfield and PSU's Trace McSorley dove in for a one-yard touchdown. The Hoosiers went three and out and then forced a three and out from Penn State. However, J-Shun Harris fumbled the punt return Penn State scooped it up and ran in for another touchdown. To make matters worse, Harris was forced to leave the game with an injury. The Hoosiers again went three and out. The IU defense made a stand and forced a punt from Penn State but a questionable roughing the punter was called against IU and Penn State took advantage with a touchdown pass to DaeSean Hamilton to make the score 28-0 as the first quarter came to a close. It was as bad a 15 minutes as anyone supporting the Hoosiers could imagine and it appeared IU was in for a historic beating.

However, the Hoosiers responded in the second quarter. Richard Lagow scrambled on a third down and found Ian Thomas for a long completion that Thomas ran to the two-yard line. The drive was finished with a rushing touchdown by Ricky Brookins and the Hoosiers were on the board. The IU defense stopped the Nittany Lion attack multiple times in the second half and then the Hoosiers cut the deficit to 14 with a Peyton Ramsey touchdown pass to Simmie Cobbs with under one minute to play in the first half. IU outgained Penn State in the first half and the Hoosiers were getting the ball to begin the second half. Despite being down 14, it felt like Indiana was right in the game. Unfortunately, Peyton Ramsey threw an interception on IU's first drive of the second half and the Nittany Lions had tremendous field position with a chance to go back up by 21. Once again though, the IU defense stood tall and forced a short field goal attempt from Tyler Davis. Davis missed the chip shot and the Hoosiers still had life. The offense was just never able to find its rhythm as turnovers continued to kill any hope IU had to get back in the contest. Davis connected on a 45 yard field goal to put PSU ahead 31-14 late in the third quarter and then Devonte Williams coughed up the football near midfield to once again put the Hoosiers defense up against the wall. The Nittany Lions appeared to get away with a clear offensive pass interference after the official picked the flag up and ruled the reception was a touchdown that put Penn State ahead 38-14. The Hoosiers continued to fight on defense and they ultimately had a lot to be proud of, holding Saquon Barkley to only 56 yards rushing and 51 yards receiving. In total, the Nittany Lions only had 370 yards of offense and much of that came in the last couple of drives against a battered and exhausted IU defense as the Nittany Lions chose to run a trick play and continue to throw deep instead of running the clock out. 

Indiana was led by 53 rushing yards from Morgan Ellison and Peyton Ramsey and the Hoosiers managed to cobble together enough decent plays to amass 352 yards of offense. The four turnovers and two special teams touchdowns that were allowed proved to be fatal though as IU dug themselves a Grand Canyon-sized hole to climb out of against a good opponent in a hostile environment. 

The Hoosiers will hope to get healthy and heal up as they host Charleston Southern before the Michigan Wolverines come to Bloomington. They are now 2-2 and sit at 0-2 in the Big Ten with both losses coming to top five opponents. Penn State remains unbeaten and stays in the mix for a College Football Playoff bid as they head to Northwestern next week to battle the Wildcats. Hoosier Huddle will have extensive post game coverage along with previews for the upcoming matchup against the Buccaneers of Charleston Southern.