Here are 5 takeaways from Penn State football’s 45-14 victory over Indiana
No. 15 Penn State entered Saturday’s matchup in Bloomington looking to bounce back from a 44-31 loss to No. 2 Ohio State.
The Nittany Lions responded by dominating Indiana 45-14. Penn State scored six redzone touchdowns and went 6-for-7 in redzone opportunities. Indiana’s offense mustered only 196 total yards on 3.1 yards per play. Penn State had -64 yards in tackles for loss throughout the game.
Here are five takeaways from Penn State’s 45-14 victory over Indiana.
Consistent running game leads to consistent play
When the running game cooks the way that Penn State’s did on Saturday, it’ll be tough to lose. Kaytron Allen had 18 carries for 86 yards and three rushing touchdowns, averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Nick Singleton averaged 4.6 yards per carry on 16 rushes for 73 yards and a touchdown.
The team rushed the ball 49 times for 179 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Keeping the ball on the ground allowed Penn State to win the possession time battle, outlasting Indiana 35:53-24:07. It also kept the defense fresh.
Get Mitchell Tinsley the ball
The cliche thing to say for a college football team is that you want to spread the ball around to all of the team’s receivers. While that is great in theory, you may have a few guys who can do anything that you ask of them and you absolutely need to feed them the ball.
Mitchell Tinsley is that guy. While he didn’t find the end zone in the game against Indiana, he moved the chains on multiple big plays. He was targeted eight times and caught five passes for 63 yards, with his biggest play being a 27-yard reception. Tinsley was touted as a huge pickup in the transfer portal and he proved his worth on the field and how he’s consistently carried himself off the field.
Great pass rush equals great success
Penn State had six sacks and four quarterback hurries in the game. Six Nittany Lions had sacks — Ji’Ayir Brown, Nick Tarburton, Adisa Isaac, Chop Robinson, Dvon Ellies and Coziah Izzard. The Nittany Lions defense is predicated on the front seven getting pressure and forcing bad throws to the secondary. They did that on Saturday by getting three interceptions as well.
Sean Clifford navigates the wind
Penn State starting quarterback Sean Clifford had to navigate heavy wind gusts on the field of Memorial Stadium. He completed 15 of his 23 (65%) for 229 yards and an interception. He was picked off early in the game by Tiawan Mullen at the Penn State 31-yard line.
The game could’ve gone in the exact opposite direction, but he took care of the rock for the rest of the way. Clifford hit Tinsley for 11 yards on his next pass and followed up with completions of six, five and 14 yards before his next two incompletions. He hit Kaytron Allen for 27 yards and hit Theo Johnson for 29 more yards not long after. On the team’s own 9-yard line, he made a 25-yard strike to Brenton Strange and watched Allen take the ball 45 yards.
He did exactly what he needed to do and it was reminiscent of his game against Auburn.
Turnover chain gang
Manny Diaz’s defenses are known for their ability to cause turnovers. Penn State had three interceptions, one each by Dani Dennis-Sutton, Kalen King and Daequan Hardy.
The first interception came with Indiana bearing down inside Penn State’s 10-yard line with backup quarterback Brendan Sorsby getting picked off by King at the 11:43 mark in the third quarter. It was the first interception of his career.
Penn State’s second pick was a tipped Dexter Williams II pass that landed in the hands of Dennis-Sutton — the first of his career. Do you see a pattern?
Hardy had the third interception off of Williams II with 14:03 left in the game, returning it for 18 yards to the Indiana 4-yard line.
This story was originally published November 5, 2022 at 7:59 PM.
