44 Indiana (3-2, 1-0 Big Ten) |
VIDEO: Bill O'Brien Postgame Press Conference Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery 1 | Photo Gallery 2 - Penn State opened Big Ten play on the road for the fourth consecutive year and saw Indiana score three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 44-24 decision in Memorial Stadium. The Hoosiers won for the first time in 17 series meetings. Trailing 13-7 at halftime, the Nittany Lions took a 14-13 third quarter lead when Christian Hackenberg found Allen Robinson for a 26-yard scoring strike, their second scoring connection of the game. The duo also connected on a 46-yard scoring play in the second period, their sixth completion of 40 yards or more this season. The Nittany Lions topped the 23-point mark for the 15th straight game under head coach Bill O'Brien and gained 410 yards, but allowed 486 yards and had three special teams miscues, including a fumble deep in Penn State territory. Robinson was spectacular, making a career-high 12 catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns. His dozen catches were the second-highest number of receptions for a Nittany Lion in a game, trailing only Freddie Scott's 13 catches vs. Wisconsin in 1995. Robinson zoomed from 12th to 7th on the school career receptions list (118) with his second consecutive monster effort vs. IU. His two touchdown catches gave him 16 in his career, good for fifth place at Penn State. True freshman Hackenberg completed 30 of 55 passes for 340 yards, with three touchdowns and no touchdowns, with Robinson hauling in two of the scoring strikes. The third touchdown toss of was a 14-yarder to Bill Belton. The 55 pass attempts by Hackenberg were the most in a single game in program history, eclipsing Kerry Collins' 54 attempts at BYU in 1992. Hackenberg became the fourth Nittany Lion to attempt more than 50 passes in a game, joining Rashard Casey (51, 2000 vs. Iowa), Matt McGloin (51, 2012 vs. Northwestern) and Collins. Hackenberg's completions, touchdown passes and passing yardage were all career-highs. The 30 completions were third most in school history and his 340 passing yards ranked ninth in single game history. The 340-yard effort made Hackenberg just the fourth Nittany Lion signal caller to post multiple 300-yard passing games in a career. After just five career games, he joined Matt McGloin (6), Kerry Collins (4) and Daryll Clark (3) on the list. Tight end Kyle Carter tied his career-high with six catches for 79 yards, the second-highest total of his career, and freshman wideout Geno Lewis made a season-high six grabs. Zach Zwinak gained 72 yards on 17 carries to lead the ground game. The linebacker duo of Glenn Carson and Mike Hull each recorded 10 tackles vs. the Hoosiers. It was the sixth double-digit tackle game of Carson's career and second of the season. He also tipped a pass that was intercepted by Adrian Amos, for his fourth career pick. Hull put together his second career 10-plus tackle effort, both coming against the Hoosiers, making 11 stops in the 2012 meeting. Cornerback Jordan Lucas made a career-high nine stops, including 1.5 tackles for loss and DaQuan Jones had five hits, including a TFL. Penn State returns to Beaver Stadium to host No. 18 Michigan (5-0, 1-0) in the 94th Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 5 p.m. The game will air on ESPN, the Penn State Sports Network and www.GoPSUsports.com. The contest with Michigan is sold out, but tickets are available for the final three home games of the season, against Illinois, Purdue and Nebraska, at www.GoPSUsports.com and 1-800-NITTANY. |