Penn State 24, Indiana 0
Michael Penix never got the chance to pull out a last-second miracle win this year’s game by running in a two-point conversion. He left the game early with a shoulder injury and besides, the Hoosiers were unable to score at all on Penn State’s stodgy defense.
Penix and Sean Clifford had nearly identical stats. Penix was 16-34 for 195 yards, while Clifford was 16-34 for 199 yards. Both were intercepted once, but Clifford had one touchdown to his credit. Jack Tuttle went 6-12 for 77 yards in relief of Penix, and he was also intercepted once.
The big difference, which we’ve been bitching about throughout the season, was the running game. Penn State finally enjoyed an over 200 yard rushing day. Along with that, the Nittany Lions dominated IITOP 34:53 to 25:07. Now, they’re finally playing football.
Stupid Rankings
So, the net effect of Oregon losing might well be to move Penn State up to #3, at least in the AP Poll. On Friday night, Iowa demolished Maryland 51-14. They’ll move up, too. I’ve suggested that they should leapfrog PSU, but that was when I was convinced that Indiana would provide some competition.
Alabama and Georgia are secure at #1 and #2, but they could easily be flip-flopped without major arguments from anyone but extreme partisans. If the crazy sportswriters vote as I expect, Penn State will be #3 and Iowa #4, setting up next week’s showdown at Kinnick Stadium.
It’s cool that there will be two SEC teams and two Big Ten teams in the top four. Would that it could be that way at season’s end. Ain’t gonna happen. If Alabama and Georgia make it through the season undefeated, then they will meet in the SEC Championship game. One of them has to lose, but at that stage of the season, they probably won’t fall out of the top four. Either of those two would clean Penn State’s clock, and probably Iowa, too.
I had been saying that the #4 — now #3 — wouldn’t last past October. With Iowa at Kinnick next week, there is big potential for a first loss of the year. Then, there are two bye weeks, one against Illinois, followed by Ohio State on the 30th. Plenty of possibilities to lose the lofty ranking in October!
But what if they don’t?
If they don’t, and if they are still up there when the CFP selection happens, the Nittany Lions will have the privilege of getting their asses kicked in the first round by Georgia, Alabama, or whoever.
With that, I’ll ask you for your assessment of what the future holds for the Penn State Nittany Liosn.
(I’ll be back later in the week with an assessment of the Iowa game.).
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psudrozz says
Fell asleep at halftime. These night games just don’t work for me after a day of taking the kids to sports, yardwork, etc. And a couple of bourbons.
Regardless, from what I recall, I liked what I saw. Indiana’s secondary was one of the better ones faced, and Clifford’s pick IMO was an excellent play by the defense. I think they looked ready for Iowa.
The Nittany Turkey says
Sports, yardwork, and bourbon. Sound like the Bobby Layne school of football. And I hope they’re ready for Iowa.
But if they get by Iowa, the two bye weeks and tOSU’s early suckage might lull them into a false sense of invincibility.
We’ll see/
—TNT
Big Al says
What does the future hold? Probably a 10-2 regular season record and a berth in the Fiesta Bowl against BYU (who will wind up with the Group of 5 bid to the New Year’s 6 bowls after Cincinnati loses in the AAC championship game). tO$U is showing signs of playing up to it’s talent level and the Kitties will lose to them. And also lose to one of Iowa, Michigan, or Moo U.
The Indiana game showed me two things. (1) State’s defense is for real. This is the best defensive secondary that Franklin has had. The only weakness is the lack of a pass rush from the tackles but they are great stopping the run. Except for Ohio State, none of State’s opponents seem capable of scoring more than 21 points unless State’s offense gives them short fields and/or pick/stip sixes. (2) Despite getting 200+ yards against Indiana, State’s running problem has not been solved. The OL is still not getting any push on running plays. The backs (particularly Lee) did a better job of recognizing seams and Indiana’s linebackers blew some assignments. Future opponents like Iowa and Michigan will be able to shut down the run and force Penn State to pass.
psudrozz says
rewatched some of the game during lunch; Al’s running game explainer nails it pretty good.
K. John says
I agree with most but I don’t think the secondary is as good as the 2014 or 2015 units. I think they look good because they haven’t had to face one decent receiver much less two or a QB. Nix is OK, Mertz is a train wreck and Penix is a shell of his former self. The real test is down the road. The running games continues to struggle despite a high yardage game against Indiana. Indiana dropped an additional body in coverage throughout the game essentially picking death by a thousand cuts with their best corner (and best player) out the entire game and softened up even more after losing their other starting corner in the 3rd. To me, the fact that we couldn’t get 1 yard on 4th and 1 in the 3rd when Indiana’s defense was tired but actually playing the run says our issues are not behind us.
The Nittany Turkey says
I think Olave will torch this defense. Maybe Brent Pry has an answer. I must believe tOSU will score at least 28 on this vaunted defense.
But Iowa comes first, and the Nittany Lions better concentrate on maintaining a perfect 1-0 record this week. It ain’t gonna be easy. I think 6-4 is my standard prediction for this game for the past 17 years.
That 4th and 1 sucked big time. I sat there thinking, “Easy call, Franklin. Just walk up to the line, snap it, and it’s an automatic first down.” But nooooooooooooooo!
—TNT
The Nittany Turkey says
Yeah, I noticed that they were still incapable of running inside the tackles. Good to see them break a few runs, though, and control the ball better than they had been doing.
Still counting tOSU as a loss? Really? I thought that with signature wins over 1-3 Wisconsin, Auburn, and 2-3 Indiana, the Nittany Lions were invincible. Or so the Sanguinarians think. (One of them opined that Wisconsin and Auburn’s woes are not indications of PSU’s weakness. Quite the contrary. They suck because Penn State beat them mentally and they were so crushed that they can barely scrape themselves off the field to play competitive football. Such is the delusional life of a Sanguinarian).
The defense is fun to watch, even if the offense is tortuous at times. But are they #4? During Pretend Hour at this stage of the season, they can be whatever the hell the Sanguinarians and their sportswriter enablers want them to be. I say it’s a dastardly conspiracy by the sportswriters to set up their reportage to include the concept of how the mighty have fallen.
At least the sportswriters had the sense and common decency to leapfrog Iowa over Penn State, as I asked them to do.
—TNT