Highs and Lows: Penn State survives Indiana's upset bid

PLAYER OF THE GAME:

Yetur Gross-Matos spent most of the game terrorizing the right side of Indiana’s offensive line. Gross-Matos collected his first career multi-sack game, getting to Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey on two occasions. Leading the team with 10 tackles, Gross-Matos helped mask an otherwise difficult day for the Nittany Lions’ defensive front, as Penn State pulled away late to beat the Hoosiers 33-28.

PLAY OF THE GAME:

Penn State came out of the second half flat, and as time in the third quarter dwindled, the trailing Nittany Lions needed to draw energy from somewhere. They got it from fifth-year senior Jonathan Thomas, who took an Indiana kickoff 94 yards to set up a McSorley touchdown run that put Penn State ahead 26-21. Thomas stepped out of bounds at the 5-yard line after following his blocks perfectly through traffic.

BEST PASS:

Penn State’s best throw off the day came courtesy of its backup quarterback. Tommy Stevens, out of the ‘Lion’ package, found a wide-open Pat Freiermuth deep down the left side of the field for a 23-yard touchdown on an otherwise unremarkable day for quarterbacks, who may have been affected by the windy conditions.

BEST RUN:

Penn State’s most explosive run of the day came thanks to the aid of Stevens. Using him as a decoy out to the left of center as if waiting for a pitch, McSorley took the ball straight up the middle for a gain of 44 yards to set the Nittany Lions up deep in Hoosier territory. Penn State tied the game at 14 later on in the drive.

BEST CATCH:

What made Juwan Johnson’s 59-yard reception in the second quarter wasn’t the catch, but what came after it. After dropping a pass on a similar play in the first quarter, Johnson reeled in a short pass over the middle from McSorley and stiff-armed a defender to find himself in open space. The 6-foot-4 wideout then outran the Indiana defense to the right sideline before being tripped up from behind at the Hoosier 13-yard line.

WORST DROP:

Penn State’s wide receivers just cannot figure out their drop problems. The Nittany Lions had numerous passes slip through their fingertips against the Hoosiers, but none was more important that Brandon Polk’s drop in the end zone midway through the third quarter. Polk’s failure to bring down McSorley’s pass forced the Nittany Lions to settle for a field goal, costing them four points.

BEST SACK:

In the first quarter, Penn State’s secondary held up just long enough for Gross-Matos to make a hard hit on Ramsey. Gross-Matos made an inside move after his speed rush around the edge was denied, and flattened Ramsey for a short loss.

BEST INTERCEPTION:

What ensued afterward made what seemed like an unimportant Nick Scott interception at the time take on extreme importance. Scott came down with a tipped ball to collect the turnover with the Hoosiers inside Penn State territory.

WORST INTERCEPTION:

McSorley’s third interception of the season, like his first two, game through little fault of his own. Mac Hippenhammer got his hands on a bullet pass from McSorley but couldn’t reel it in, batting it up in the air for Indiana safety Bryant Fitzgerald, who brought it down with ease.

BEST HIT:

John Reid used an excellent form tackle to stop an Indiana drive in its tracks late in the third quarter. Reid drove Indiana running back Ricky Brookins into the ground after he caught a short pass in space on third down, getting the Nittany Lions off the field after they took the lead on the previous possession.

BEST EFFORT:

Penn State’s first stop of the day came courtesy of an excellent effort by Kevin Givens, who made an athletic play to get a hand on a Ramsey pass after the quarterback rolled outside of the pocket. Givens’ deflection was enough to ensure the pass went nowhere near its intended target, and the Hoosiers were forced to punt for the first time in the game.

WORST KICK:

Kicking from inside his own end zone, Blake Gillikin’s punt late in the second quarter went off the side of his foot and out of bounds at the Penn State 42-yard line. It gave the Hoosiers good field position as they looked for points near the end of the half, but, luckily for Gillikin, the Nittany Lion defense held.

BEST KICK:

Gillikin fared much better on his first punt of the day. His kick came with a perfect first bounce after landing around the Indiana 7-yard line, tumbling out of bounds at the Hoosier 5-yard line.

BEST RETURN:

KJ Hamler’s first kick return of the day began with a bobble, but the play from that point went as smoothly as one could hope. Hamler weaved his way through the coverage before emerging in space on the left sideline. By the time Indiana’s kicker tracked him down, Hamler had picked up 58 yards and set up a Penn State scoring drive on its first possession of the game.

WORST DECISION:

After watching Mark Dantonio try to get tricky on a couple occasions last week against Michigan State, James Franklin got an idea of his own late in the first quarter. After an Indiana running into the kicker penalty, Franklin dialed up a fake punt run with Gillikin that went absolutely nowhere. It gave Indiana the ball at the Penn State 42-yard line, and the Hoosiers promptly used that field position to take a 14-7 lead before the end of the quarter.

MOST TELLING MOMENT:

After struggling against Ohio State, Penn State’s ‘Lion’ package came back off the shelf against the Hoosiers, as Franklin dedicated nearly an entire drive to it early in the second quarter. With Stevens in the backfield alongside McSorley, the Nittany Lions marched 83 yards down the field to tie tha game at 14 after Stevens found Freiermuth in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown.