Penn State crushes Indiana in Bloomington to get back on track for seventh win
Penn State rolled into Indiana after a loss to Ohio State and took its frustrations out on the Hoosiers. The Nittany Lions dominated Indiana from start to finish, earning the 45-14 victory.
They got on the board first with a 10-play drive that ended with a toss to running back Nick Singleton for a touchdown. After their defense looked impressive in the earliest part of the game, Penn State’s defense immediately gave up a long Hoosier drive in response. Quarterback Jack Tuttle connected with AJ Barner for an 11-yard touchdown that tied the game up at seven, where it would remain until the end of the first quarter.
Penn State took back the lead in the second quarter on another long drive, this time thanks to multiple plays made by freshman running back Kaytron Allen, who scored the touchdown to make it 14-7.
Allen once again carried the offense on its next drive, using his patience and balance to navigate the line of scrimmage and lead the offense down the field.
He punched it in for his second touchdown of the day to make it 21-7 in the first half. Jake Pinegar added a career long 50-yard field goal with less than a minute left in the half to get the score to 24-7 at the midpoint of the game.
Penn State kept things rolling in the second half with Allen’s third rushing touchdown of the day, keeping the blowout moving against the Hoosiers.
The Nittany Lions kept cruising from there to close out the 45-14 victory.
Player of the game
Penn State running back Kaytron Allen: Allen was excellent for Penn State and helped put the game away early for the Nittany Lions with 14 carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He’s quickly taken over as the team’s lead running back because of his ability to get the easy yards while finding avenues to get extra ones as well. He has excellent patience that allows him to wait for holes to develop, and he has the balance to cut into those openings and get upfield. Allen was not as heralded as Singleton was as a recruit, but has clearly become the team’s top running back.
What the win means
The Nittany Lions were widely expected to get things done this weekend, so it doesn’t mean much as far as altering expectations or changing their bowl outlook. What it does do is keep them on the same track they were on despite losing two games already. Penn State was — and will likely continue to be — projected to make a New Year’s Six bowl game at the end of this season. The Nittany Lions need to keep winning to get to 10 wins and make that a likelihood, and Saturday helped keep them on the right path. Sometimes you just have to take care of business during the season and they did that against Indiana.
