Oct. 9, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Riding a four-game winning streak, Penn State will host Indiana on Saturday in the 96th Homecoming game.
Finishing a string five consecutive home games, the Nittany Lions (4-1, 1-0) and Hoosiers (1-3) will square off in a 12 p.m. kick in Beaver Stadium. The game will air live on ESPN.
"We are excited to close out five straight weeks at home with Homecoming," said Franklin. "We really appreciate the support of the students and especially all of the alums who will be coming back to Happy Valley this weekend from all over the country."
Behind a career day from linebacker Jason Cabinda, the Nittany Lion defense again shined in a 20-14 win over Army last week. The true sophomore linebacker made a career-high 14 tackles, recorded the first two sacks of his career and forced a fumble. Senior defensive end Carl Nassib, who remains among the nation's leaders in sacks and tackles for loss, tallied a sack for the fifth-straight game to open the season.
Offensively, redshirt freshman Nick Scott and sophomore Mike Gesicki each visited the end zone for the first time in the Blue and White. Gesicki's 33-yard catch and run in the third quarter capped off a three-play 91-yard drive, which included a 49-yard toss from quarterback Christian Hackenberg to wide receiver Chris Godwin.
Indiana enters Saturday's game after playing top-ranked Ohio State to the wire in Bloomington last week. The Hoosiers went toe-to-toe with the Buckeyes for 60 minutes, falling just shy in a 34-27 Ohio State victory. Indiana tallied more than 400 yards of total offense against Ohio State, including 176 on the ground. The Hoosiers enter the game with a 4-1 overall record following victories over Southern Illinois (48-47), Florida International (36-22), Western Kentucky (38-35) and Wake Forest (31-24) to open the season.
Penn State and Indiana will meet for the 19th time on Saturday, with all of the meetings coming since the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten Conference in 1993. Penn State is 17-1 all-time against the Hoosiers and 8-0 in games played at Beaver Stadium.
The Alumni Blue Band will be featured as they join the Blue Band performance at halftime of Saturday's Homecoming game. The Homecoming court will parade onto the field and the 2015-16 King and Queen will be announced during halftime. The annual Homecoming Parade will be held on campus and downtown State College on Friday evening.
Following the Indiana game, Penn State will head on the road for two straight games, traveling to Ohio State on Oct. 17 and M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore to face Maryland on Oct. 24. The Lions return home to Beaver Stadium on Oct. 31 for a matchup against Illinois.
Welcome to the gameday preview for week six - Penn State vs. Indiana.