Blue White Illustrated

Indiana Pregame

Penn State Sports Magazine

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guts? I like [Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney's] comments: Bring your own guts. Do you have the guts and determi- nation to do it again? It's easier said than done." For Wilson's teams over the past few years, especially following a strong per- formance like they showed vs. OSU, sus- taining success has certainly been much easier said than done. He scolded one of his seniors last week for implying that the Ohio State game was the biggest game of the year, because in the past his teams put too much emphasis on single games, he said. While a win would've undoubtedly highlighted Indiana's sea- son, Wilson maintains that with seven games remaining, a loss certainly doesn't break it. "This is another big week," he said at his press conference previewing Penn State. "Next one, next day, and we've got to move on." Moving on – from a big victory or a near miss – is a point of emphasis, as it is something that the Hooisers haven't done effectively in recent seasons. For instance, aAer a four-point win over Missouri of the Southeastern Con- ference last season, Indiana came out the following week and lost big to Maryland, 37-15. Then it won only two more – against Purdue and North Texas – over the final seven contests of the season. The year before, as Nittany Lion fans sorely remember, Indiana beat PSU for the first time in history. But, in what seems to have become a trend, Indiana followed that game up by losing its next three in a row. In 2012, the same thing. The Hoosiers played both Michigan State and the Buckeyes tough in back-to-back weeks, losing by a combined seven points. The following week, against heavily favored Navy, Indiana came tum- bling back to earth, falling in an upset to the Midshipmen, 31-30, and finishing with a 4-8 record. The message this week from Wilson is to not nullify his team's effort against Ohio State by laying a dud against the Nittany Lions. "We've shown as a program that we can be good, but we've shown we don't con- sistently move on," he said. "It's going to be another great week, another great test." Wilson said he sees many similarities between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions on offense, the difference being that PSU is younger across the board. So his de- fense, which is allowing a league-worst 502.6 yards per game, is preparing in similar fashion aAer holding the Buck- eyes without a TD in the first half. Penn State's defense, however, differs from Ohio State's, which surrendered 402 total yards to the Hoosiers last week. "Not a lot different, just in some ways," Wilson said. "They're actually as stout or more stout with their defensive front and their linebackers." Indiana's rushing attack is led by junior Jordan Howard, an Alabama native who already has 709 yards on the season to rank among the top 10 in the country. He missed a portion of last week's game vs. Ohio State, but other than saying Howard is "a little gimped up," Wilson has been mum on his status for this week. The same can be said for starting quar- terback Nate Sudfeld, who suffered an ankle injury in the fourth quarter of In- diana's 31-24 win at Wake Forest two weeks ago. He aggravated the injury in the first half against Ohio State and had to come out of the game in the third quarter. From there, Diamont came on in relief and finished with 76 passing yards and 98 rushing, while nearly tying the score on the final drive. Between Sudfeld and Diamont, IU's of- fense averaged 13.3 yards per reception vs. OSU. That wasn't enough for Wilson, however. This week, he's begging his team for more. "We've not created and found enough big plays," he said. "We've got to work on that. That's always, to me, a big difference in games. It will be tough against this Penn State team to get big plays, and we've got to daggum sure limit theirs. That's for sure. We're getting better, but that's the Achilles heel in of a lot of our losses." Big plays will likely be a lot easier to come by through the air if Sudfeld, who is Indiana's best thrower, can play. Sud- feld said he's "feeling good" and is hop- ing to play Saturday. Wilson, however, was less committal. Asked whether he expected Sudfeld to be healthy by Saturday, the fiAh-year coach demurred. "Time will tell," he said. "We're not going to push it." NATE BAUER RECORD 4-1 Who knows? Honestly, I don't. Be- tween injuries with unknown resolu- tions at this point, the strength of Penn State's defense against Indiana's strong offense, or Penn State's weak offense against Indiana's weak de- fense, any number of possibilities seem as likely as the next. PENN STATE 20, INDIANA 19 PHIL GROSZ RECORD 4-1 This will be Penn State's toughest test of the season to date. If Nate Sudfeld and Jordan Howard are healthy, the Lions will have difficulty keeping Indi- ana in the 20s. And if it has to score 30 points or more, it's going to be very hard for Penn State to pull out a victory. INDIANA 31, PENN STATE 24 MATT HERB RECORD 4-1 Even if Saquon Barkley returns this week, I'm not convinced PSU has enough firepower to keep pace with the Big Ten's highest-scoring team. INDIANA 27, PENN STATE 24 TIM OWEN RECORD 4-1 After Indiana's near-miss against Ohio State this has all the makings of a let- down week for the Hoosiers. With al- most as many injury concerns as PSU – and with the Lions eager to put last week's snoozer behind them – this is a tough spot for Indiana on the road. PENN STATE 28, INDIANA 27 RYAN SNYDER RECORD 4-1 Penn State's game against Indiana could prove to be the most important of the season. IU has some injuries and a struggling defense, while PSU has plenty of injury issues itself. I'm lean- ing toward the Nits slightly, but this could go either way. PENN STATE 21, INDIANA 20 O C T O B E R 7 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 BWI'S FORECAST

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