Blue White Illustrated

On a beautiful aBernoon at Beaver Sta- dium, all 97,873 fans in attendance were treated to the offensive change of pace. Against an Indiana defense that Penn State predicted all week would be "dar- ing" it to throw, shots were fired early, as the Nittany Lions and quarterback Christian Hackenberg opened it up. Al- though the first of those shots – a deep throw to Chris Godwin – fell incomplete, the Lions set a tone that would resonate throughout the first half. ABer trading possessions through the first few minutes of the game, a personal foul penalty against the visiting Hoosiers set Penn State up with a first down at In- diana's 49-yard line. Just two plays later, a jet sweep, play-action fake allowed Hackenberg to make an easy pitch-and- catch to speedy wideout Brandon Polk down the right sideline to secure a 39- yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead. With starter Nate Sudfeld recovering from an ankle injury – he dressed for the game but didn't play – Indiana turned to backup quarterback Zander Diamont. Just because their No. 1 QB was out of action, Hoosiers weren't about to rein in the Big Ten's highest- scoring offense. Starting at their own 35, they maneuvered deep into Penn State's territory, capping the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run by the soph- omore QB. Signaling to the crowd to hush, Diamont evened the score, but may have roused the Nittany Lions' de- fense. "Those guys weren't too happy. We ob- viously came out and we attacked. They came aBer him," Hackenberg said. "That doesn't sit too well with a lot of the guys on our team." The Nittany Lions' defense would get an immediate chance to redeem itself, and did so swimmingly. Hoosiers kicker Griffin Oakes executed a perfect onside kick immediately following Diamont's touchdown, but the prime field position went unexploited, as the Nittany Lions forced a quick three-and-out. Said Franklin, "It was significant in the game, the way our guys handled it. We spend a lot of time talking about and handling sudden change situations like that, and I thought our guys responded extremely well to that. That could have been a situation where they gain some momentum make some plays after that, and I thought our guys responded really well." The Hoosiers were held scoreless the rest of the aBernoon by a feisty Penn State defense. Further, a ferocious hit from Nittany Lion defensive end Garrett Sickels early in the second half silenced Diamont, as he was sent to the locker room with a shoulder injury and possible concussion. By that point, the Nittany Lions had al- ready built a 19-7 lead, backed by a sec- ond 39-yard touchdown pass from Hackenberg to a streaking DaeSean Hamilton in the second quarter and capped by a 1-yard, naked rollout touch- down run for Hackenberg to close out the half. Place-kicker Joey Julius missed both PATs. Holding a familiar second-half lead, true of each of the Nittany Lions' previ- ous five games this season, Penn State fell flat in the third quarter. A holding penalty and a sack stunted two of the Lions' four offensive possessions, con- tributing to a performance that yielded only 29 yards. For the season, Penn State has scored just 13 third-quarter points. The fourth quarter would be kinder. Fueled by a defense that suffocated the Hoosiers, creating another seven tackles for loss and four sacks, plus two forced fumbles by senior end Carl Nassib and an interception, the Nittany Lions had time to recompose themselves offensively. ABer John Reid intercepted Indiana's third-string quarterback, Danny Cameron, near midfield, the Lions marched back toward Indiana's end zone efficiently. Racking up 52 yards in seven plays, Hackenberg again showed off his wheels, deciding to go airborne for a 5- yard touchdown scramble. ABer adding a 30-yard field goal from Tyler Davis on their next possession, the Nittany Lions comfortably closed out In- diana for the win. Hackenberg finished with 262 yards passing and two touch- downs and also carried nine times for 21 yards and two scores. The strong per- formance had Franklin feeling optimistic about his efficient, newly mobile quar- terback. "Stepping up in the pocket, going through his progressions, and if it's not there, being a threat to run the ball – it causes headaches," Franklin said. "Christian was able to do that today. I've been saying for a while he has the ability to do that, and it showed up today. I think now we'll have conversations about him being a dual-threat quarterback and in- stalling the option this week." Ba-dum, ching! The Nittany Lions (5-1) finally get back on the road next weekend to take on No. 1 Ohio State (6-0). The game at Ohio Stadium will kick at 8 p.m. and air on ABC. SCORING SUMMARY 1ST 7:35 PSU Polk, B. 39-yard pass from Hackenberg, C. (Julius, J. kick) 4 plays, 64 yards, TOP 1:06.........................................................0-7 4:11 IND Diamont, Zander 12-yard run (Oakes, Griffin kick) 8 plays, 65 yards, TOP 3:24......................................................... 7-7 2ND 5:40 PSU Hamilton, DaeSean 39-yard pass from Hackenberg, Christian (Julius, Joey kick failed) 4 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:02....................................................... 7-13 0:36 PSU Hackenberg, Christian 1-yard run (Julius, Joey kick failed) 7 plays, 62 yards, TOP 3:08....................................................... 7-19 4TH 10:37 PSU Hackenberg, Christian 5-yard run (Davis, Tyler kick) 7 plays, 52 yards, TOP 3:51........................................................ 7-26 5:33 PSU Davis, Tyler 30-yard field goal 7 plays, 15 yards, TOP 3:33........................................................ 7-29 O c T O B E R 1 0 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O m 2

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