Huge late plays from Penn State’s offense and defense helped the No. 10 Nittany Lions (7-1) avert disaster with a 33-24 win against Indiana (2-6).
With the game tied 24-24 and under two minutes left in the game, Penn State quarterback Drew Allar connected with KeAndre Lambert-Smith down the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown, and the Nittany Lion defense forced a fumble out of the end zone for a safety to stave off the Hoosiers’ upset bid.
Coming off their first loss of the season last week against Ohio State, Penn State’s offense continued to struggle for long stretches while the defense gave up a season-high point total. But both came through when it mattered most.
Minutes before his decisive touchdown pass — the longest completion of his Penn State career – Allar threw his first career interception, setting up an Indiana field goal to tie it. Allar was 20-31 for 210 yards and three touchdowns on the day. Lambert-Smith hauled in six of those passes for 96 yards.
Kaytron Allen led the rushing attack with 81 yards on 18 carries, while Nicholas Singleton had 50 yards on 15 attempts.
Indiana outgained Penn State 349 to 342 and had touchdown passes of 90 and 69 yards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams got off to slow starts, trading punts on each of their first two possessions. The Nittany Lions were forced to punt a third time after a Drew Allar incompletion to Trey Wallace that saw the receiver leave the game with an apparent shoulder injury, and Riley Thompson’s 51-yard boot pinned the Hoosiers at their own 10.
Indiana was undeterred by the poor field position. On the first play of the possession, quarterback Brendan Sorsby found DeQuece Carter at his own 36 and Carter raced the rest of the way to the end zone as Indiana took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter. The 90-yard hook-up was the third longest pass play in Hoosier history.
Penn State answered, thanks in part to an Indiana special teams miscue. The Nittany Lions lost four yards and punted, but Indiana’s Camden Jordan muffed the catch and KJ Winston recovered at the Indiana 32.
After a fourth-down conversion and a couple of short completions, Penn State faced a fourth-and-2 at the 9. Allar dropped back and hit tight end Khalil Dinkins, who got behind the Hoosier defense and was wide open in the end zone, for the score. The Nittany Lions knotted the game at 7-7 with 1:37 left in the opening quarter.
Indiana went three and out on its next series, and Daequan Hardy appeared to return the ensuing punt 86 yards for a touchdown. An illegal block penalty, however, brought the Nittany Lions back to their own 10. Allar hit tight end Tyler Warren across the middle for a 21-yard completion, but Penn State went backwards from there, losing five yards on the next three plays and punting.
The Hoosiers took over at their own 31 and struck immediately. Penn State sent a corner blitz and left Donaven McCulley wide open on a go route. McCulley hauled in a Sorsby pass at the 43 and cruised for a 69-yard score as Indiana went ahead 14-7 early in the second quarter.
Penn State wasted a 50-yard Nick Singleton return on the kickoff, with KeAndre Lambert-Smith picking up a first down on a 16-yard reception but dropping a third-down pass at the 10 on the next series. Alex Felkins came on for a 51-yard field goal attempt that went wide.
Indiana turned the ball over on downs at the Penn State 41 on its next drive, and the Nittany Lions responded with a nine-play, 59-yard drive. Singleton caught a 28-yard pass from Allar and ran for 25 yards on six carries, including a grinding two-yard push into the end zone, as Penn State tied it 14-14 with just over two minutes left in the half.
The Hoosiers quickly past midfield, but Jaylen Reed picked off a Sorsby pass and returned it to the Nittany Lion 43, giving Penn State another shot at a score with a minute left. The Nittany Lion drive stalled out with an incompletion and an intentional grounding, and Felkins drilled a 51-yard field goal as time expired to put Penn State ahead 17-14 heading into the locker room.
Penn State’s offense leaned heavily on Kaytron Allen to open the third. The back ran for 37 yards on six carries while Allar completed a couple short passes and ran for 10 on his own to get the Nittany Lions into the red zone. On second down from the 16, Allar connected with tight end Theo Johnson in the end zone to extend Penn State’s lead. The 12-play, 75-yard drive gave Penn State a 24-14 advantage.
The Nittany Lion offense went back to its plodding ways for the remainder of the third quarter, punting three times, while Indiana’s attack started to put it together. The Hoosiers drove 56 yards on a six-minute drive before a Hardy sack brought up fourth and 14 from the Penn State 19 and Chris Freeman’s 37-yard field goal attempt missed wide.
Indiana got it done on its next possession though, pounding the run up the middle and getting timely completions as the game moved into the fourth quarter. Sorsby capped the 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 26-yard throw to Omar Cooper for a touchdown.
An exchange of punts brought the Penn State offense back out on the field at its own 12. Facing third and 8 from his own 14, Allar threw the first interception of his career as Indiana’s Josh Sanguinetti picked off an ill-advised floater at the 21.
The Hoosiers couldn’t do much, but the field position was good enough for a 35-yard Freeman field goal to tie it at 24-24 with 2:58 left in regulation.
Penn State opened its ensuing drive with consecutive 10-yard runs by Allen. Allar then threw deep down the sideline to Lambert-Smith, who pulled it in, avoided a tackle and tip-toed down the sideline for a 57-yard touchdown. Felkins’ point after put the Nittany Lions ahead 31-24 with 1:46 remaining.
Indiana still had a chance, but on the first play of the Hoosiers’ drive, Dani Dennis-Sutton forced a Sorsby fumble at the 25 and the ball bounced all the way out of the end zone for a safety that put Penn State ahead 33-24.
The Nittany Lions recovered Indiana’s on-side attempt on the kickoff and ran out the clock for the win.
Penn State heads to Maryland next Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on Fox.
