Penn State Football Game Grades: Indiana

Story posted November 7, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Logan Bourandas

It only took one week for Penn State to get back in the win column and it did so in dominating fashion against Indiana.

The blue and white left Bloomington with a 45-14 win over the Hoosiers to move up to 7-2 on the season.

Here’s a look at how each position group performed in Saturday’s victory.

Offense: A-

The Nittany Lions remained consistent from start to finish and that’s really all they needed to do.

Both Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton led the way on the ground as they combined for 159 rushing yards and four touchdowns.

Allen started the game and had three of those rushing scores, a career high for the freshman.

Sean Clifford also started the game and played consistent football after a slow start which included an interception.

He ended his day with 229 passing yards and no touchdowns as he was removed for Drew Allar just 25 yards away from tying Trace McSorley as the team’s all-time leader in passing yards.

Allar was another positive as he came in and threw two touchdown passes in the second half. Receiver Mitchell Tinsley was another big time player, making big catches early in the game to help give Penn State early momentum.

That all helped allow the Nittany Lions score over 40 points in a game for the fourth time this season.

Defense: A

It’s really hard to give the defense a perfect score as we’ll never know how different this game could’ve been had Jack Tuttle stayed healthy

Tuttle wasn’t lighting the world on fire, but he was consistent by completing 9-of-12 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown.

Once he did get hurt however, the Penn State defense was unbeatable.

Two Hoosier quarterbacks combined for three interceptions including career firsts for Dani Dennis-Sutton and Kalen King.

The front seven also had a field day, only allowing 65 rushing yards from the Hoosiers while picking up six sacks on the day.

It wasn’t a shutout against the Hoosiers like last season, but it was still more than enough to get the win.

Coaching: A+

James Franklin and his staff had to cancel out a lot of outside noise from a week ago following the Ohio State loss.

Lots of fans were clamoring for a Drew Allar start following the Nittany Lions second loss of the season.

With something to play for, Clifford got the start, overcoming a tough opening to help provide the Nittany Lions with a huge win.

Franklin also decided to fully unleash Kaytron Allen and was rewarded with three touchdowns and 158 total yards.

The Nittany Lions have a bright future ahead of them with some of the young stars they have on both sides of the ball. Franklin was able to balance out getting those guys playing time while being competitive this season and he milked out the best result possible this weekend.

Logan Bourandas is a senior majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email lxb5412@psu.edu.