Self-Inflicted Mistakes, Conservative Calls Cost Indiana Shot at Upsetting Penn State
Indiana was in position to pull off an upset at No. 10 Penn State Saturday and potentially turn around its season, but like so many other times, the Hoosiers got in their own way.
For most of the game, Indiana, shockingly, was the better team. But in the end, the Hoosiers lost 33-24, and coach Tom Allen, his staff and his players should be kicking themselves over another wasted opportunity.
The most egregious sequence came in the game’s final minutes. Indiana’s best chance to pull the upset as a 31-point road underdog came when it trailed by three with the ball on the Penn State 21-yard line with 5:02 remaining.
Moments before, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar made a poor decision to loft the ball into heavy coverage when he was pressured on 3rd and 8, and Indiana safety Josh Sanguinetti was there to intercept the pass.
But instead of playing aggressive and going for the win after the takeaway, Indiana played it safe. It played not to lose, instead of playing to win – however you’d like to phrase it. And it lost anyway. Indiana offensive coordinator Rod Carey called three run plays, which produced just four yards, before kicking a game-tying field goal.
Perhaps Carey didn’t trust Indiana quarterback Brendan Sorsby to throw the ball because of a possible injury, as Sorsby grimaced and clutched his shoulder late in the fourth. But Allen said postgame that if Sorsby couldn’t have thrown, they would have put Tayven Jackson in the game.
Allen and Carey didn’t want to risk a mistake – like an interception or fumble when Indiana was already in field goal range – with a young quarterback who’s been prone to them.
“When we got to third down, we talked real quick and said, ‘Hey, we’re in field goal range. Don’t risk a takeaway,’” Allen said. “They’re really good at taking the ball away. They’re a great pressure team on 3rd and 6, and we felt – I think we were already in field goal range, and we thought it was the smart thing to do to not put ourselves in a position to give away those points and lose the game that way. So that was the thought process there. That was an agreement that I had. I actually agree with the decision to do that.”
The issue isn’t so much that Indiana ran the ball on third down, but that it also ran it on first and second down and was never aggressive in any of the three plays. And this was not the only situation that cost Indiana the game.
Flash back to the first quarter, just after a 90-yard touchdown pass from Sorsby to DeQuece Carter and a sack by Lanell Carr. Indiana was playing better than it had in over a month on both sides of the ball. Then it shot itself in the foot again.
Punt returner Camden Jordan, replacing Jaylin Lucas after Lucas muffed a punt last week, muffed one himself, and Penn State recovered on the Indiana 32-yard line. A few plays later, Penn State caught Indiana’s secondary sleeping on 4th and 2, as Allar found Khalil Dinkins wide open for a 9-yard touchdown.
Sorsby threw his second touchdown pass of the day in the second quarter, this time a 69-yard connection to Donaven McCulley, who was left uncovered when Penn State sent a cornerback blitz. And after a Penn State missed 51-yard field goal, Indiana was in Nittany Lion territory again.
Indiana was aggressive in this case, going for it on 4th and 3, but a bad snap flew over Sorsby’s head. He did well to recover the ball and flip it to Trent Howland, who was given the first down, only to have that call overturned by replay.
Penn State started to take control in the middle portion of the game, leaning on running back Nicholas Singleton on a 59-yard drive to tie the game at 14. Sorsby made his worst decision of the game on the following drive, rolling to the left then throwing back toward the middle of the field.
Penn State’s Jaylen Reed jumped the route, and Alex Felkins drilled a 50-yard field goal to give the Nittany Lions a three-point halftime lead. Penn State extended the lead to 10 points early in the third quarter with a 16-yard Theo Johnson touchdown.
But Indiana didn’t roll over – an intriguing sign for a team that was outscored 61-14 in the second half of its previous three games. The Hoosiers drove down the field again, with a good mix of Howland in the run game and a few completions from Sorsby through the air. The drive stalled when Sorsby was sacked on 3rd and 9, and Chris Freeman pushed a 37-yard field goal attempt wide right.
Indiana bounced back with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Sorsby to Omar Cooper Jr. to cut the deficit to three points early in the fourth. The Hoosiers’ defense then held strong – as it did for most of the game – and forced a punt midway through the fourth quarter. But similar to losses against Louisville and Akron, Indiana got stuffed on 3rd and 1 with a chance to tie or take the lead, forcing a punt.
When Indiana got the ball back, it played conservative and kicked a game-tying field goal with 2:58 remaining. Then everything fell apart. Jordan Grier, replacing the injured team captain and starting husky Noah Pierre, got beat in one-on-one coverage, leading to a 57-yard Penn State touchdown with 1:46 to play. On Indiana’s first play thereafter, Sorsby was hit before he could throw and fumbled. The ball wound up rolling nearly 35 yards out of the end zone for a safety. And that was the game.
The dismal ending amplified Indiana’s questionable approach to go conservative with the game tied. With a win Saturday, which was realistic from start to finish, Indiana would have moved to 3-5 on the year. Its final four games are against Wisconsin (5-2) at home, at Illinois (3-5), home against Michigan State (2-5) and at Purdue (2-5), with records reflecting early Saturday afternoon.
A 3-1 stretch, and thus bowl eligibility, would have been feasible, especially given the way Indiana played at No. 10 Penn State and the momentum and belief that win would have created.
Instead, the Hoosiers have to win out to make a bowl game. Even with the loss, Indiana’s defense and Sorsby showed promising potential on Saturday. Indiana finished with more total yards than Penn State, and the Nittany Lions’ elite defense allowed a season-high 24 points.
But those kinds of moral victories are getting old, and time is running out.
