Costly mistakes keep Indiana at arm's length from biggest win of the season
Several costly mistakes put No. 9 Penn State in position to score early and often, as Indiana remained competitive but at an arm's length in 34-27 loss to the Nittany Lions on Saturday.
All week leading up to Indiana’s game at No. 9 Penn State, head coach Tom Allen and leaders within the locker room, including running back Stevie Scott and guard Simon Stepaniak, emphasized the need to play a perfect or near-perfect game in Happy Valley.
That started with limiting mistakes, as Penn State boasted one of the best defenses in the country, so getting back into a game after a mistake was going to be more difficult than it was against Maryland, Nebraska or Northwestern.
For the first minute-plus of play, it appeared Indiana might begin where it needed to begin to reach that benchmark, as it forced Penn State into a three-and-out in just 1:10. But on the punt, IU returner Whop Philyor was too close to an awkward ball and touched it – the officials claimed after review – and turned it over to Penn State, all but handing the Nittany Lions their firt score of the game three minutes into the game.
That was the first of several mistakes that would immediately place th eHoosiers behind the eight ball, though the Hoosiers were able to remain competitive, losing 34-27 to snap a four-game winning streak.
“I brought them all together and I was very honest,” Allen said. “I was highly disappointed. We didn’t come here to be close. We came here to battle them.”
Indiana did battle Penn State. It took the lead in the first quarter with two strong offensive drives and scored two consecutive times when Penn State put together a 13-point lead in the third quarter. Without No. 2 Big Ten receiver Whop Philyor after a hard helmet collision in the second quarter, Peyton Ramsey still pieced together a 371-yard day. Indiana also stacked 91 rushing yards on the third-best rushing defense in the country – allowing 74 rushing yards per game.
When Penn State scored, the offense was usually able to follow.
The problem was that Penn State was put in position to score by Indiana mistakes too many times. The Philyor muffed punt kicked it off, followed by a forced fumble that favored an Indiana recovery by Juwan burgess or James Miller but was recovered by Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth instead. The Nittany Lions eventually kicked a field goal on that drive.
Perhaps the most memorable mistake involved a fake punt that, Allen said, was not intended to be a fake punt on fourth-and-one in Indiana territory. Journey Brown scored a Penn State touchdown two plays later.
“It wasn’t supposed to (be a fake),” Allen said. “We just have a true freshman long snapper that made a mistake. Sean (Wracher has) had a great season. It was a mistake. What do you say? He was frustrated with himself.”
There were several other mistakes left on the field as well, including two 12-men on the field penalties, Micah McFadden falling in spy coverage on the Sean Clifford 38-yard touchdown run, and the dropped touchdown pass by Donavan Hale.
It’s difficult, nearly impossible, to point to one mistake that left Indiana in a hole too deep to dig out of, but the point in summation is that Indiana remained competitive despite not playing the near-perfect football it hoped to play while preparing for the top-ten Nittany Lion all week.
For Ramsey, that’s what makes the loss most distasteful.
“It hurts,” the quarterback said. “There were so many opportunities. At the end of the day, you’ve just got to make them, and we just didn’t do it.”
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