Penn State Football Opponent Preview: Indiana Hopeful For Sudfeld’s Strong Return

The tailgating won’t start for awhile but Penn State football players will report to training camp in a few short weeks.

So you know football season isn’t too far off.

With that in mind, we continue our series of previews — looking ahead to the opponents the Nittany Lions will face this in 2015.

Here’s what you need to know about Indiana.

Offense: 

Indiana’s perhaps surprisingly effective passing attack took a hit last season when quarterback Nate Sudfeld went down with a non-throwing arm shoulder injury.

Zander Diamont couldn’t do much of anything in relief and Indiana’s otherwise promising 4-1 start was no more. Sudfeld is back but unfortunately he’ll have to do without the services of running back Tevin Coleman and receiver Shane Wynn. Coleman was one of college football’s best runners and Wynn was a playmaker during all four years of his career.

The question now is who will follow in their footsteps? If Indiana can find those targets and run the ball half as good as Coleman did, Sudfeld can probably do the rest. If not, it could be another long season.

Defense:

Bobby Richardson proved to be a key asset at defensive tackle during his three years as a starter but he adds his name to the “key losses” column for Indiana.

Rising star Greg Gooch will be the new face to look to and you’ll find his mug at the linebacker position. He had an interception and two tackles against Penn State last year. And at 250 pounds, good luck running through him.

Teammate and fellow linebacker Tegray Scales could also pose problems for opponents as well. Indiana returns six players on defense and will need all of them and more to be competitive in the Big Ten this year.

Biggest Game:

While it’s going to be easy to default to conference games for most of the Big Ten, Indiana’s Week 3 trip to Wake Forest is a key juncture in the early going. If the Hoosiers can find targets for Sudfeld and the defense plays well that’s a solid out of conference win and likely a 4-0 record.

From there the road won’t get any easier with Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers and Michigan State in that order. Any of those games are big ones, but a win against Wake Forest means just three conference wins to become bowl eligible. Rutgers, Purdue and maybe Iowa could help the Hoosiers get to that point.

Biggest Storyline:

Losing a 2,000 yard rusher is going to open an obvious hole in the offense. Losing a four-year playmaker is going to create its own set of new challenges. Both of those things together and Indiana’s offense is a big question mark.

Sudfeld could be a bit more accurate with his passes, but he has the tools. Now it’s just a matter of finding good talent to surround him with.

Prediction:

If Indiana has things figured out by the time it meets Penn State in Week 6 this could be a tough game for the Nittany Lions. Penn State has struggled with pass happy teams over the years and last season’s 13-7 victory was far from the best game you’ll ever see.

All in all though, Penn State has answers where Indiana has questions. The Nittany Lions aren’t going to avoid an unexplainable loss this year, but it won’t come this week.

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