BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Penn State responded to back-to-back losses to Ohio State and Michigan State last year by running the table, and the 16th-ranked Nittany Lions will attempt to begin a similar turnaround when they visit Indiana for a Big Ten clash Saturday afternoon. Penn State's consecutive losses to the Buckeyes and Spartans in 2017 came by a total of four points and this year's were by five, with striking similarities in the Lions' inability to execute down the stretch.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC. LINE: Penn State -15.5
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"In any organization ... there's typically three steps forward and one step back, and that step back is painful," coach James Franklin told reporters. "And you've got to learn from it and grow from it and get better. If we would just eliminate four or five of the unforced errors, the missed assignments, penalties, dropped balls, things we can control, I think we'll like the results." An offense that led all FBS teams in scoring before the Ohio State game was held to three second-half points in the 21-17 loss to Michigan State last week as the Spartans produced a 25-14 advantage overall in first downs. The Lions will try to avoid their first three-game slide since the end of the 2015 season against a Hoosiers team that has also lost two in a row, including a 42-16 setback at home against Iowa last week that prompted to a players-led meeting Monday. "Today, we had to look Saturday in the face, call it what it was," senior offensive lineman Wes Martin told reporters. "We got our butts whooped on Saturday. We had to face that and move on."
ABOUT PENN STATE (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten)
One of the bright spots against the Spartans was the play of junior running back Miles Sanders, who rumbled for 162 yards on 17 carries, one of which was a 78-yard touchdown that gave the Lions a 14-7 lead. Wideout KJ Hamler added a five-yard TD catch and he's scored in five of six games this season, recording nine of his 18 catches in the back-to-back losses. Senior quarterback Trace McSorley became the program's all-time leader in passing yards last week but he was held under 200 for the third time this year, already one more than all of 2017.
ABOUT INDIANA (4-3, 1-3)
Quarterback Peyton Ramsey was 31-of-42 for 263 yards and a TD with two interceptions against Iowa, and the sophomore has attempted 177 passes over his last four games. Stevie Scott ranks fourth in the Big Ten - two spots behind Sanders - with 557 rushing yards, but the freshman is averaging just 42.3 per game in conference play. The Hoosiers have four receivers with at least 20 catches and 200 yards, and Donavan Hale (20, 230) leads the group with four TDs.
EXTRA POINTS
1. McSorley needs 44 yards of total offense to become the 11th player in Big Ten history with 10,000 for a career.
2. Hoosiers K Logan Justus is 7-of-8 on field goals - the one miss coming on a 50-yarder - and 12-of-12 on extra points over the last five games.
3. Penn State owns a 20-1 series lead, including a 45-14 win at home last year.
PREDICTION: Penn State 38, Indiana 23