Oct. 19, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.; Oct. 19, 2007 - Penn State will look to earn an important Big Ten win and gain its first road victory of the season Saturday when the Nittany Lions visit Indiana for the Hoosiers' Homecoming game. The teams are meeting for the first time since 2004.
Kickoff is at 12:00 p.m. ET in Memorial Stadium. ESPN will televise the game to a national audience. The contest also will air on the Penn State Sports Network and GoPSUsports.com, the official website of Penn State Athletics.
The No. 25 Nittany Lions and Hoosiers are meeting for the 11th time, with Penn State leading, 10-0, in a series which began in 1993. Penn State is 4-0 vs. Indiana in Memorial Stadium and also captured a 27-24 decision at the RCA Dome in 2000.
The majority of previous PSU-IU contests have been high scoring. The teams have combined to score 617 points in their 10 games, an average of 61.7 points per contest.
The teams are meeting for the first time since Penn State's dramatic goal line stand in the final minutes to preserve a 22-18 win in 2004. The Nittany Lions have won 27 of their 34 games starting with the victory in Bloomington three years ago.
Penn State and Indiana enter the contest with identical 5-2 overall records, 2-2 in the Big Ten, with the winner becoming bowl eligible.
The Nittany Lions and Hoosiers are atop the national rankings for quarterback sacks through the initial seven weeks of the season. Indiana leads the nation with 32 sacks, an average of 4.5 per game. Penn State is tied for second in the nation with 29 sacks, an average of 4.1 per contest, along with Michigan State and Oregon State.
Indiana sophomore DE Greg Middleton is No. 2 in the nation with 9.5 sacks for minus-61 yards. Penn State sophomore DE Maurice Evans (Brooklyn, N.Y.) is tied for 10th in the nation with 7.0 sacks for minus-49 yards. Evans is tied for third in the Big Ten and senior linebacker Dan Connor (Wallingford) is tied for eighth in the conference with 5.0 sacks for minus-43 yards.
The Nittany Lion defense is again shaping up as one of the nation's best, ranking in the top 15 nationally in all five of the primary categories, with four top 10 rankings. In addition to being tied for second in sacks (29), Penn State is No. 5 in scoring defense (12.7 ppg), No. 7 in total defense (264.3 ypg), No. 9 in rushing defense (81.4 ypg) and No. 15 in pass efficiency defense (102.6 rating). The Nittany Lions are No. 2 in the Big Ten in all five categories.
Following the Indiana game, Penn State will conclude its home schedule, hosting Ohio State on Oct. 27 (8:00 p.m.) and Purdue on Nov. 3 (TBA) for Senior Day before visiting Temple and Michigan State to finish the regular season.