Penn State-Indiana Takeaways: Lions unable to finish in loss to No. 2 Hoosiers

By Greg Pickel

The story of this Penn State season can be summed up simply: The Lions do not finish games nor make enough plays when they matter most. That’s the too-short recap of the team’s failed upset bid on Saturday. Indiana needed just 10 plays and 1:51 to go 80 yards for the game-winning score in a 27-24 survival over the home team at Beaver Stadium.

Our top takeaways are below.

1. Penn State fails to finish

The Penn State defense played probably its best game of the season, and certainly put together its best effort against a Power Four opponent. But, when it needed a stop to seal the game, it could not get one. After the Lions’ offense failed to finish on its own terms, Gabe Nwosu boomed a punt to the end zone, giving the Hoosiers a free 20 yards. The Penn State pass rush bothered Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza on the final drive, but not enough to keep him from hitting Omar Cooper Jr., for a toe-tapping score in the back of the end zone with 36 seconds to play. It erased a furious comeback attempt that saw the Lions take the lead at 24-20 with 6:27 to play.

Penn State has been close to ending this six-game losing skid on numerous occasions. But, it never finishes, and it didn’t again on this day.

2. Receivers were the difference

It’s probably not the right day to pick on the Penn State receivers, considering they may have had their best day of the year. And yet, Indiana’s pass catchers had a better day. Cooper Jr.’s game-winning catch was one of the many marquee moments the Hoosiers’ receivers had on this day. Even without top option Elijah Sarratt, Charlie Becker stepped up to catch seven passes — many of them contested — for 117 yards. Cooper made an amazing play for the game-winning score. When Indiana needed them to make a play, they did.

Trebor Pena played well for the Lions, finishing with six catches for 66 yards. But drops again plagued this group. Simply put, Indiana’s pass catchers made more game-changing plays.

3. Odds and ends

This is, unfortunately, an abbreviated takeaways piece considering the time between the game ending and Terry Smith’s news conference. But, we’ll have more thoughts later. Here are our final thoughts:

—Nick Singleton had his best game of the year and maybe of his career. He ripped off a 59-yard run as part of a 10-71 day that included two rushing scores and also a 3-22-1 receiving line.

–Penn State had three sacks and eight tackles for loss. It was not a perfect day for the defense, but the effort was better and more productive than in some other weeks.

—Ethan Grunkemeyer had his best day as a starter. He completed 22 of 31 passes for 219 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. The final numbers look worse due to four hail mary like incompletions late in the game. He was fine today.