5 things to watch in the Penn State-Indiana football game

The No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions (4-2) will take on the Indiana Hoosiers (4-3) in Bloomington at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Here are the five things you should keep an eye on.

Can QB Trace McSorley bounce back?

McSorley may be on the short list of best-ever Penn State quarterbacks, but the redshirt senior acknowledged last week that he was off his game against Michigan State. Sure, the play-calling didn’t help — Ricky Rahne didn’t really call a downfield shot until the third quarter — but McSorley also pressed in the second half.

This is a perfect opportunity for him to bounce back. In the last two meetings against Indiana, he threw for more than 300 yards in each game. So far this season, he hasn’t thrown for more than 290 yards.

The Hoosiers’ pass-rush has been virtually non-existent this season, so McSorley will have time to throw — and Rahne should call up (a lot) more deep passes as a result. The Hoosiers are 89th in the country in team pass efficiency defense. So, if he doesn’t fare well against Indiana, it’s time to panic.

The playmaking ability of Indiana WR J-Shun Harris II

Harris may stand at just 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds, but he’s the Indiana version of KJ Hamler. He’s fast, he’s the top target on this team, and he’s also a threat on special teams.

In Big Ten play, the slot receiver leads IU with 23 catches and 211 yards in four games. He had 104 receiving yards against Ohio State, and he returned a punt for an 86-yard touchdown against Ball State.

If the Hoosiers are going to have a big game on offense, it starts with Harris and freshman running back Stevie Scott. Harris will likely match up against either John Reid or Donovan Johnson, and the potential for the big IU play will be there. Penn State’s secondary will have to be ready.

“He’s challenging,” James Franklin said.

Penn State’s situation at defensive tackle

The rotation here is definitely worth monitoring. Franklin announced Tuesday that backup DT Fred Hansard suffered a season-ending injury, and fellow backup Ellison Jordan didn’t play last week after tweeting that he was “contemplating if I should still play football.”

So what’s going to happen this week? Well, let’s get the obvious out of the way first. Defensive line coach Sean Spencer loves to keep his players fresh, so starters Kevin Givens/Robert Windsor can’t be on the field every play.

True freshman PJ Mustipher and redshirt sophomore Antonio Shelton are the second-teamers, per the official depth chart. Mustipher’s progress is especially worth keeping an eye on — he didn’t play against Ohio State, but he’s one of the most physically gifted true freshmen on the roster. Outside of those two, Damion Barber could end up seeing some playing time and OL-turned-DT C.J. Thorpe should get another chance after a critical unsportsmanlike conduct penalty last week.

The ends are the strength of this defense and, if Penn State wants to stop IU’s 236-pound running back, the interior needs to be just as strong.

Can IU slow down Miles Sanders?

This is an intriguing matchup for a lot of reasons. Yes, Sanders carved up the nation’s No. 1 run defense last week to the tune of 162 yards. But Indiana head coach Tom Allen is a defensive mastermind at taking away an offense’s biggest tendencies.

Over the last two seasons, with Allen on staff, Saquon Barkley was limited to less than 60 yards and 3 yards a carry in each meeting. Based on yards-per-carry average, no other Big Ten team was more successful at stopping Barkley the last two seasons than the Hoosiers.

This defense isn’t as talented as past years and Penn State’s offensive line is much improved, but Allen is definitely the X-factor. His defenses are aggressive and opportunistic — and they love to blitz and stunt.

Sanders is already on pace to out-rush Barkley’s past season totals this year. He’s also on pace to be a first-team all-conference running back, and Franklin intimated earlier this week that his receptions also need to increase. So don’t be surprised if he plays a bigger role than usual in the passing game.

Inconsistent special teams

We already addressed Harris’ return ability, and the electric return games of DeAndre Thompkins and KJ Hamler are already well-established — so let’s talk about the other special teams.

Penn State kicker Jake Pinegar, a true freshman, is just 4 of 8 on field goals so far this season. And he doesn’t really have an established distance yet. Remember: Franklin and Rahne opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 against Ohio State instead of kicking the mid-range field goal for the lead. He just hasn’t earned the staff’s trust, and that puts a lot more weight on the offense’s shoulders. (By comparison, Indiana’s Logan Justus is a perfect 7 of 7 on kicks under 40 yards but is 1 of 3 on kicks 40 and over.)

On top of that, Penn State was burned on a fake play last week — even when Franklin stressed prior to the game how prepared they were for that — and onside kicks have been an issue at times this season. Special teams have the ability to win Penn State the game, like Hamler’s return against Appalachian State, but it also has the potential to lose PSU the game.

You won’t want to miss a special-teams play Saturday. Save the bathroom breaks for halftime.

This story was originally published October 19, 2018 at 12:25 PM.