No. 10/10 Penn State Registers 33-24 Win Over Indiana

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 10 Penn State (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) took down the Indiana Hoosiers (2-6, 0-4 Big Ten) by a 33-24 final score Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium. The win did not come easily as quarterback Drew Allar threw his first career interception in the fourth quarter but rallied the Nittany Lions with the game-winning drive shortly thereafter.

Allar threw for 210 yards and completed a trio of touchdown passes to Theo Johnson, Khalil Dinkins, and Keandre Lambert-Smith.

Lambert-Smith led the team with 96 receiving yards on six receptions and a touchdown, what wound up being the game-winning score. Johnson hauled in two passes for 21 yards and his third touchdown of the season. Dinkins’ only reception in the game was a nine-yard touchdown from Allar in the first quarter. On the ground, Kaytron Allen took charge with 81 yards on 18 carries, both leading the team, while Nicholas Singleton toted the ball 15 times for 50 yards and a score.

Nineteen different Nittany Lions recorded tackles in the game, with Jaylen Reed picking up a team-high eight. Daequan Hardy, Dani Dennis-Sutton and Johnny Dixon also recorded sacks for the Nittany Lions, contributing two of Penn State’s four tackles for loss. Penn State held yet another opponent to under 100 rushing yards, limiting Indiana to just 80 on the day.

Penn State also recorded a safety with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter, forced by Dennis-Sutton, effectively stifling the Hoosiers’ final drive and helping the Nittany Lions close out the game, 33-24.

This was Penn State’s seventh time this season scoring over 30 points in a game.

Indiana got on the board first with a 90-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Sorsby to Dequece Carter on the first play of the Hoosiers’ third offensive possession. The Nittany Lions trailed 7-0 at the 7:37 mark of the first quarter.

Penn State’s punt on its next possession was muffed by Indiana’s return man and scooped up by Kevin Winston Jr. at the Indiana 32-yard line. Penn State converted the scoring opportunity on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Allar to Dinkins. Penn State’s scoring drive took 4:21 off the clock as the Nittany Lions marched 32 yards down the field for the score.

A 69-yard touchdown pass to Donaven McCulley put the Hoosiers back up by seven at the 13:26 mark of the second quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Singleton ran the ball out of the end zone all the way to the 50-yard line, setting up the Nittany Lion offense with another short field to work with. Penn State was unable to convert this time down, as a 51-yard field goal attempt was wide.

A two-yard touchdown by Singleton tied the game at 14 with 2:09 remaining in the first half. The score capped off a nine-play, 54-yard scoring drive by the Nittany Lions.

On the Hoosiers’ next trip down the field, Jaylen Reed picked off a Sorsby pass and returned it to the Indiana 43-yard line with just over a minute left to play in the second quarter. Felkins bounced back and converted a 50-yard field goal as time expired to put the Nittany Lions up 17-14 as the teams entered their locker rooms at the break.

Penn State received the ball to start the second half and constructed a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive to extend its lead to 24-14. Johnson hauled in his third touchdown of the season, a 16-yard pass from Allar at the 8:39 mark of the third quarter.

Indiana threatened to score on its following possession but a third down sack by Hardy forced a field goal attempt that the Hoosiers failed to convert, keeping the score at 24-14.

Indiana cut into the Penn State lead in the fourth quarter on a 26-yard touchdown pass. The Hoosiers went 80 yards in 12 plays spanning 5:20 for the touchdown, bringing the score to 24-21 with 10:54 left to play in the game.

The Hoosiers tied the game at 24 apiece with a field goal with just under three minutes left in the game. Penn State responded with a three-play, 78-yard touchdown drive, highlighted by a 57-yard touchdown pass from Allar to Lambert-Smith, to take a 31-24 advantage with 1:46 still left on the clock.

On Indiana’s first play of their next possession, Dennis-Sutton produced a strip-sack of Sorsby and the ball rolled through the back of the end zone for a safety, tacking on another two points to Penn State’s total. The Nittany Lions were able to run the clock out, winning by a final score of 33-24.
The Nittany Lions travel to Maryland (5-3) next Saturday.