Three Reasons for Optimism About the Rest of Penn State's Season

The Nittany Lions have lost six straight games, including a heartbreaker vs. Indiana. But they also showed signs of progress.

Penn State Nittany Lions quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer looks to throw a pass against the Indiana Hoosiers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Penn State turned a potential win into another grueling loss last Saturday, when Indiana scored a touchdown with 36 seconds left to beat the Nittany Lions 27-24. The final series was one of the best Beaver Stadium has seen in years, beginning with a sack by Penn State's Zane Durant and ending with Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza's touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr.

Penn State's sixth straight loss might have been the most bitter of the streak, considering that the Nittany Lions led with 1:51 remaining. Players said that they wanted nothing more than to get interim head coach Terry Smith a win.

Penn State (3-6) has three games left in the regular season, none against a team ranked in the AP Top 25. First up is Michigan State, which like Penn State is 0-6 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions showed signs of life beyond the fight Smith said his team would play with for the rest of the season.

Considering that, here are three reasons to be optimistic about Penn State's November finish.

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Penn State's stars returned

Penn State Nittany Lions running back Nicholas Singleton (10) celebrates in the end zone after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Some of the Nittany Lions top senior players have had less than productive seasons. But three of them showed out against Indiana, suggesting they haven't turned toward NFL prep just yet.

Running back Nicholas Singleton played by far his best game of the season, totaling 143 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. Singleton's 59-yard run in the fourth quarter was by far his longest of the season and first above 20. He also scored on a determined 19-yard touchdown reception and generated 50 return yards.

"I think Nick is back, full confident," Smith said.

Meanwhile, Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant led a defensive line that helped Penn State create 29 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, the most in a Big Ten game this season. Dennis-Sutton made his first sack since the FIU game in Week 2 and had another negated by holding.

Durant made what appeared to be a huge sack on the first play of Indiana's game-winning drive, added a quarterback hurry and neutralized Indiana's rushing lanes. With linebacker Amare Campbell standing out once again (eight tackles, 1.5 for losses), Penn State's defense played its best game since the first half vs. Oregon.

Penn State showed more trust in its passing game

Penn State Nittany Lions wide receiver Trebor Pena (8) runs with the ball during the second quarter against the Indiana Hoosiers at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

After another half of largely horizontal offense, Penn State threw downfield intentionally, and successfully, in the second half. Part of that was situational; the Nittany Lions fell behind Indiana by 13 points and needed to start throwing. But Smith said the passing game also got a haltime talk.

"Honestly speaking, we just didn't make those play calls [in the first half]," Smith said. "And we went
into halftime and we made sure we made those calls in the second half, because obviously it gave us an opportunity to succeed. And then once we started making those play calls, that helped the run game."

Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki also showed more trust in Grunkemeyer, whether by choice or necessity. Grunkemeyer threw a third-quarter interception that Indiana turned into a field goal and a 20-7 lead.

After that, Grunkemeyer completed 12 of his next 14 passes, including throws of 20, 21 and 22 yards to receiver Trebor Pena. Grunkemeyer went 5-for-11 on passes of 15+ yards against Indiana. He attempted just two at Ohio State and was 0-for-4 at Iowa.

Smith has been adamant about jumpstarting Penn State's downfield passing game since becoming interim head coach. In the second half against Indiana, Kotelnicki agreed.

Penn State 'simplified' its defense

Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) runs with the ball while being pressured by Penn State Nittany Lions safety Zakee Wheatley (6) during the third quarter at Beaver Stadium. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

Smith said that defensive coordinator Jim Knowles "simplified" some of his play-calling against Indiana, addressing an issue that has followed the defense all season. In October, Smith said learning Knowles' defense was "like going to math class." And some defensive backs attended staff meetings to ask more questions about it.

"it's complicated," Smith has said. "It's very complicated."

By stripping out some of the extra calls, Penn State played faster and was able to blitz more. As a result, the defense generated eight tackles for loss and three sacks (both highest since the UCLA game) and six quarterback hurries (most in Big Ten play).

Safety King Mack, one of those players who attended the staff meetings, made a huge interception and rattled Mendoza twice on the final series. The simplified play-calling also gave young players more freedom to play confidently.

Freshman linebacker Alex Tatsch broke up a pass and was on the field for the final series. Fellow freshman Daryus Dixson got a sack from the cornerback position, and freshman defensive end Yvan Kemajou looked more confident in his busiet game of the season.

"We were drawing up more blitz packages to get the pressure, and our guys were playing a little bit faster and a little bit looser," Smith said. "You saw on Saturday, they looked like the old Penn State defense. They got after it. They were having fun."

Penn State visits Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Spartan Stadium. CBS will televise.