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fense than just about every opponent Penn State has faced in the past calendar year. It held the Lions to their lowest scoring total since a 49-10 loss to Michigan in last year's Big Ten opener. And yet Barkley still domi- nated, racking up a Penn State-record 358 yards of total offense, including 211 yards rushing. For Indiana, that's obviously a central concern. The Hoosiers' run defense was not consistently effective in the team's first three games. Ohio State freshman J.K. Dobbins ripped them for 181 yards on 29 carries in the season opener, while J.T. Bar- rett added 61 yards on the ground. The Hoosiers fared much better in week two against Virginia, giving up only 55 yards to the Cavaliers. But after an unplanned bye week resulting from the hurricane-related cancellation of a game against Florida In- ternational, they gave up 242 rushing yards to Georgia Southern last Saturday. The Ea- gles use a shotgun-option offense, so the statistics from that game were skewed in favor of the run, and Indiana did win hand- ily, 52-17. But four ball carriers had runs of 17 yards or more, and the Eagles averaged a healthy 4.5 yards per carry. And now Indiana must face a running back who is being touted as a likely Heis- man Trophy finalist. It seems like a mis- match, and indeed, the oddsmakers have decreed it so, installing Penn State as a 16.5-point favorite. But if any coach is up to the challenge, it's Allen. An Indiana native who spent much of his early career coaching high school football in his home state, he moved up to the college level a decade ago and began to develop a reputation as a defensive fixer. At Mississippi, where he served as linebackers coach under Hugh Freeze, he helped trans- form one of the worst defenses in the Southeastern Conference into a national leader. In 2014, the Rebels allowed only 13.8 points per game, fewest in the Football Bowl Subdivision. At South Florida the following year, his defense gave up only 19.6 points per game to lead the American Athletic Conference, and in his first and only season as Indiana's defensive coordinator, he took a unit that had ranked 120th in the FBS in total defense and helped it improve to 35th overall. Last year's Hoosiers gave up 129.4 fewer yards per game and 25 fewer touch- downs than they had the year before. So Allen's credentials are unimpeachable. But some circumstances are beyond any coach's control, and that includes injuries. The Hoosiers will be going into Saturday's game banged up on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense. Cornerback A'Shon Riggins, "husky" linebacker Marcelino Ball and defensive tackle Nate Hoff all went down last Saturday and are considered questionable going into the Penn State game. In addition, cornerback Rashard Fant sat out the Georgia Southern game to help speed his recovery from a pre- vious injury, and his availability is likewise uncertain. For obvious reasons, this isn't a good week for the Hoosiers to find themselves shorthanded on defense. Allen said of Barkley and McSorley, "There's not a quar- terback-tailback combination in the coun- try right now that's playing at a higher level. They are doing a great, great job. They are dangerous and confident. [Barkley] is mak- ing runs that are impressive, and he can catch the ball out of the backfield. And Mc- Sorley is just special. He's just got that moxie that you want in a quarterback and that core confidence and that belief." But despite the injuries, Indiana is eager to take on the challenge of stopping Barkley, McSorley and company. "You get to points in the season when you want to be healthy," Allen said. "Sometimes you are, sometimes you're not, and other young men have to rise up and play to a level that you expect them to – what this team demands, what our conference demands. You look across the country and other teams are dealing with the same thing. You have to pony up, as we say." S E P T E M B E R 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 2 NATE BAUER 4-0 | Their inability to stop the run spells trouble for the Hoosiers this weekend. The best way to hold Penn State out of the end zone is by keeping Saquon Barkley at bay and forcing Trace McSorley to make plays with his arm. Indiana has not been great at that, allowing nearly 200 yards per game on the ground. Simmie Cobbs will ensure Penn State's cornerbacks have their work cut out for them, though, so I expect the Hoosiers to have more success than maybe Penn State fans are anticipating. Like last year's game, this one figures to be entertaining, but the Nittany Lions will pull away in the second half. | PENN STATE 41, INDIANA 23 PHIL GROSZ 4-0 | The Indiana game should give Penn State an opportunity to find solu- tions to the problems Iowa's defense created last Saturday. The Hoosiers' defense struggled in its first three games this season against Ohio State, Virginia and Georgia Southern. Indi- ana ranks 14th in the Big Ten in run defense, eighth in pass defense and 13th in total defense (428.3 yards per game). Even Georgia Southern was able to rush for 232 yards. All signs indi- cate that Penn State's offense will get healthy against Indiana this Saturday. Expect Saquon Barkley to have close to 200 yards of total offense and the passing game to approach the 284 passing yards it amassed against the Hawkeyes. | PENN STATE 49, INDIANA 17 MATT HERB 4-0 | The Lagow-to-Cobbs combination is potent, as Ohio State found out on the season's opening weekend. Penn State's secondary has played really well so far, and while the Hoosiers will no doubt get their yards, I expect the defense to rise to the occasion on Saturday and maybe add to its Big Ten-leading takeaway total. Of some concern, how- ever, is the fact that Penn State hasn't yet put it all together on offense against a major- conference opponent. In games against Pitt and Iowa, the Lions have averaged 27 points. If that doesn't change, the Hoosiers will be able to hang around and potentially make things interesting in the fourth quarter, just as Iowa did. | PENN STATE 38, INDIANA 24 TIM OWEN 4-0 | I'm feeling much more confident in a Penn State win here than I did a month ago when Indiana pushed Ohio State for three quarters with a potent passing at- tack and a defensive effort that you hadn't really seen from Hoosiers teams of the past. Since then, however, a wave of injuries have impacted Tom Allen's D. Indiana's offense is going to be the most aggressive test for Penn State so far this season. It will score points, but with a limping defense across the field, I don't see it scoring enough to match the pace of PSU at home. | PENN STATE 51, INDIANA 33 RYAN SNYDER 4-0 | The Hoosiers stuck with the Nittany Lions through three quarters last season. Earlier this year, they did the same with Ohio State before the Buckeyes pulled away late. Expect something similar on Saturday, with Penn State pulling ahead in the second half. | PENN STATE 42, INDIANA 24 S T A F F P R E D I C T I O N S

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