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responded [in practice] – our energy, focus, effort – was excellent. "We would rather not have it happen that way. We would rather have the opposite [result] to catapult you with momentum. But it's in the past. We can't change it, but we can learn from it, choose to use all the things that led up to it, try to decide what caused us to be in this position to have a game like that, and address them right now at a critical point in the season." When Allen looks across the field on Sat- urday, he's going to see an opponent that feels much the same, having reached a crit- ical point in its own season. Penn State took a big step backward in its 21-17 loss to Michi- gan State. After steadily improving in their first five games, even in a 27-26 loss to Ohio State, the Nittany Lions turned in a ragged performance against the Spartans. They weren't precise on offense and weren't op- portunistic on defense, and as a result, they head into Bloomington desperate for a win. "There's no question that they've had two tough ones," Allen said. "But that doesn't take away from who they are. They're a very talented football team. They've got a lot of weapons. It's the best offensive line they've had. They've said that pretty clearly; I think everybody who has watched them since [Franklin] has been there would agree. They have a very experienced quarterback, and we know full well how good he is, both when we played him two years ago, then when we played him last year." Allen said he's been particularly im- pressed with Miles Sanders. The junior running back was one of a handful of Nit- tany Lion standouts last Saturday, rushing for 162 yards against a Michigan State team that had been leading the country in rush defense. Indiana knows how to neutralize talented runners, having held Saquon Barkley to 56 yards on 20 carries last year. But Allen expects Sanders to pose a major challenge. "The running back is special," he said. "Sometimes I think it's the same guy, like they brought him back from last year, you know? He's his own guy, for sure, but he's a special talent. He was the No. 1 running back in the country coming out of high school, and that's what they're able to do. That's a tribute to how they've recruited, the guys they've got and developed. "It's a very talented football team that had high hopes and expectations for the season. They're going to be coming to Bloomington very hungry, ready to play and get their season back on track." O C T O B E R   1 7 ,   2 0 1 8 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 3 NATE BAUER 4-2 | Penn State is in desperate need of a strong bounce-back in the aBer- math of its successive losses to Ohio State and Michigan State in the past three weeks. Whether or not Indiana can provide that relief is what I'm not sure about yet. Memorial Stadium is a notoriously challenging place to play, not because of the intimidating at- mosphere but because of the opposite: the sparce, lethargic crowds tend not to bring out anyone's best. The Nittany Lions could either dismantle the Hoosiers or find themselves sleepwalking again. I suspect the first half will be tight due to that very factor, but Penn State will pull away in the second half. | PENN STATE 35, INDIANA 20 PHIL GROSZ 5-1 | Most of the matchups seem to favor the Nittany Lions this weekend. Penn State has the No. 2 running game in the Big Ten, while Indiana's run defense is ranked 10th in the conference. Penn State's pass offense averages 239.8 yards per game, while the Hoosiers are giving up 227.6 yards through the air on average. Indiana's run- ning game is ranked 11th in the Big Ten at 149.7 yards per game and just 3.8 yards per carry, while Penn State's run defense is posting a solid if not spectacular average of 155.3 yards per game and 3.8 yards per carry. The one area where Indiana's offense does match up fairly well with Penn State's defense is in the passing game. The Hoosiers av- erage 249.9 passing yards per game, while Penn State is allowing 209.7. But when it is all said and done, matchups might not determine the outcome of this game. The key factor may well be how Penn State reacts to consecutive losses to Ohio State and Michigan State, games in which it was unable to protect fourth-quarter leads. I don't believe that Trace McSorley and Penn State's senior class will allow this team to lose three games in a row. | PENN STATE 40, INDIANA 21 MATT HERB 5-1 | Penn State is coming off probably the worst game it has played since the turnaround that began in September 2016. Looking sloppy and tentative, the Nittany Lions were beaten at home by an injury-riddled Michigan State team that didn't play par- ticularly well itself. The Spartans tried to hand the game to Penn State, but the Lions wouldn't take it. So now comes a game that will test their leadership. As always, they've got more talent than Indiana, but do they have the fortitude to rebound now that all their most ambitious goals for this season are out of reach? If they go into the fourth quarter with a narrow lead, will they be able to keep the doubts from creeping in and affecting their play? Trace McSorley is a great leader, but last year's team had great leaders on de- fense, too, in Jason Cabinda and Marcus Allen. Those players were instrumental in help- ing Penn State recover from back-to-back heartbreakers against Ohio State and Michigan State and win its final four games. I think the Lions will find a way to get it done this weekend against an opponent they have beaten 20 of 21 times. But it's not unreasonable to wonder what their mindset is right now. | PENN STATE 31, INDIANA 24 TIM OWEN 4-2| I'm not sure how exactly, or what it will look like, and I'm doubtful it will be pretty, but somehow, some way, Penn State will figure it out at Indiana and snap its two-game skid. | PENN STATE 35, INDIANA 24 RYAN SNYDER 5-1 | Penn State has struggled at times in Bloomington, but following two consecutive losses, both of which could easily have been victories, I don't expect to see a letdown. I expect a strong performance. | PENN STATE 49, INDIANA 24 S T A F F P R E D I C T I O N S

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