Instant Reaction: Penn State 34, Indiana 27

The week after cracking the top-25 for the first time since 1994, No. 24 Indiana lost to No. 9 Penn State, 34-27, ending its four-game win streak in Happy Valley.

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Get a 60-Day FREE trial to TheHoosier.com with promo code IU60

Penn State wideout KJ Hamler was the playmaker to keep an eye on and the offensive player that gave Indiana the most trouble early in the first quarter, as he caught a pass for 41 yards and was targeted in the endzone on a good defensive play by Indiana cornerback Tiawan Mullen. Going into the game, the clear primary challenge for the Hoosiers was to find ways to stop Hamler.

As soon as it appeared he would be a problem for Indiana on Saturday, he was pulled from the game after being shaken up on a play that ended with an awkward fall. He was on the sideline without his helmet for the remainder of the game.

Equally troublesome for the Indiana offense was wide receiver Whop Philyor's injury after taking two big hits to the helmet while fumbling the ball on a 10-yard carry. He was accompanied off the field by trainers.

There were several costly mistakes made by the Hoosiers, and none stood out more than the head-scratcher on fourth-=and-one early in the third quarter at Indiana's own 40-yard line.

After the Hoosiers initially put their offense on the field, the staff took a timeout and drew up a play that stacked a majority of the team on the left side of the hashmarks and lined up Haydon Whitehead deep behind the line. Lined up just to the left of the long-snapper was Peyton Hendershot, who took the snap and was immediately brought down behind the line.

Two plays later, Penn State scored on a 35-yard run by Journey Brown to take a 27-14 lead with just over 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

The first touch of the day by a Hoosier resulted in a turnover, as Whop Philyor touched an awkward punt and could not recover before Penn State. The play was reviewed and stood. It came after Penn State's first drive of the game, which ended in a three-and-out, and the Nittany Lions eventually scored the game's first touchdown.

There were other costly mistakes as well. Micah McFadden fell down while being the only man on Sean Clifford, allowing Clifford to score from 38 yards out. Juwan Burgess bit on play action and allowed a long KJ Hamler play that led to a field goal.

After beginning the game with two scoring drives and pushing Penn State toward a 17-14 score before the first break, the Hoosiers slowed offensively in the second quarter.

Thanks, in part, to the Whop Philyor injury, Indiana only recorded three first downs, and after totaling 138 yards in the first two drives of the first quarter, Indiana added just 69 in the next four drives in the second quarter.

Indiana wasn't able to get blockers downfield for pass-catchers and struggled to get into short-yardage third down scenarios. Indiana ended the quarter 1-of-4 on third downs.

After losing KJ Hamler for the rest of the game, Penn State leaned heavily on its run game. Sean Clifford caused problems for the Hoosiers in particular, scoring two touchdowns on the ground – one from 28 yards out and one from a yard out on 4th-and-1 to ice the game. His improvised runs also hurt Indiana in crucial late-down scenarios.

Journey Brown, thanks in part to his 38-yard score, eclipsed the 100-yard mark with an impressive third quarter.

The Nittany Lions were able to eat time off the clock with a three-point lead as well, holding onto the ball for 9:01 in the fourth quarter before Clifford's second score of the game.

Clifford passed for fewer than 200 yards, and tight end Pat Freiermuth was rarely a factor in the passing attack.

Indiana could not keep the ball off its side of the field, particularly in the second quarter. The best field position that Indiana began a drive with was at its own 37-yard line, and Penn State was only stopped on its side of the field three times.

Even when James Head forced a fumble on a sack in the second quarter, the Hoosiers began their next drive at their own 24.

While Peyton Ramsey made plenty of mistakes, including a near pick-six on a lofted ball toward the right sideline, he remained efficient, even when the offense was stagnant in the second quarter.

His performance was going to be crucial Saturday, as Penn State boasts the third-best rushing defense in the country.

The redshirt junior, in his first game as the full-time starter and a team captain, cleared the 300-yard mark and was the most productive Hoosier in the redzone.

On Indiana's early fourth-quarter scoring drive, Ramsey scrambled out of the pocket three times to keep the drive going – one time to record a first down and, eventually, to score the touchdown and pull Indiana within three.

Ramsey's arm seemed lively, as he connected with Whop Philyor for a 42 yard pass-and-catch and with Ty Fryfogle for a 38-yard touchdown. He also escaped a tackle in the pocket – as he did often Saturday – and put a good ball on Donavan Hale in the endzone. But the ball was dropped by the senior.

----

• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals

• Like us on Facebook.