No. 1 Indiana at Penn State
Saturday, Nov. 8
Noon, Beaver Stadium
UNIVERSITY PARK — Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin had an almost flawless day against Penn State on Saturday in Columbus as the Buckeyes pulled away from the Nittany Lions for a 38-14 victory.
Sayin completed 20-of-23 passes for 313 yards and four touchdowns without an interception or a sack.
He led an Ohio State team that crept ahead of Penn State at halftime, 17-14, and then shut out the Lions in the second half, 21-0, on the way to its eighth victory of the season without a loss.
The quality of the win cemented Ohio State’s hold as the No. 1 team in the country.
On the other sideline, the struggles for Penn State continued.
The Nittany Lions lost their fifth game in a row, dropped to 3-5 for the season, and remained winless in the Big Ten Conference.
Compound all of that with the fact that undefeated and No. 2 Indiana is headed to Beaver Stadium on Saturday, and it becomes clear that the path ahead will not be any easier.
Indiana is 9-0 this season with Big Ten wins over Illinois, 63-10, Iowa, 20-15, Oregon, 30-20, Michigan State 38-13, UCLA, 56-6, and Maryland last week, 55-10.
The Hoosiers average 46 points per game and give up just 11 while more than doubling the total yardage of their opponents, 4544 to 2235.
IU’s offense is almost perfectly balanced with 2333 passing yards and 2211 rushing yards on 385 attempts.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza has completed 162-of-224 passes for yards and 25 touchdowns with four interceptions, while top running backs Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby have combined to gain 1220 yards and score nine touchdowns.
There are five receivers on the field for Indiana who have over 150 yards receiving led by Omar Cooper, Jr, with 46 catches for 669 yards and eight touchdowns and Elijah Sarratt with 45 catches for 609 yards and 10 touchdowns. E.J. Williams added 26 catches and 336 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively, the Hoosiers have 13 interceptions, five fumble recoveries and 29 sacks for 186 yards in losses. The Hoosiers have given up just seven sacks this season.
This season, Indiana has given up just eight touchdowns, and it has allowed just 248 yards per game.
Against Maryland on Saturday, the Hoosiers gave up an early field goal to the Terps and then ran off 20 unanswered points to take a 20-3 halftime lead.
Maryland scored first again in the second half on a 55-yard touchdown pass, but that’s all the Terps would get for the rest of the day.
Indiana scored the final 35 points of the game and came out with win No. 9, 55-10.
The Hoosiers ran for 367 yards and added another 221 through the air for a total offense of 588 yards against just 293 for Maryland.
Mendoza threw for 201 yards and a touchdown, while Black ran for 110 yards, Hemby for 93 and Khobie Martin for 82. Black, Hemby, Martin, and Mendoza all scored one touchdown each.
At Ohio State, Penn State quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer completed 19 passes for 145 yards, but he threw an interception and was sacked four times.
Running back Kaytron Allen ran for 76 yards and scored a touchdown, while teammate Nicholas Singleton scored the other Penn State touchdown.
Eight different receivers caught passes for the Lions led by Singleton with three catches for 28 yards. Koby Howard had the longest reception which was for 26 yards.
Defensively, Penn State did get a fumble recovery, but the Lions also gave up big pass plays. Ohio State receivers Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith both caught 57 yard passes and they scored three touchdowns between them. Brandon Inniss also had a reception for 29 yards.
“We came out in the second half and the third quarter set the tone for them,” Penn State interim Head Coach Terry Smith said. “They scored 14 points, and we never could respond.
“I’m super proud of our guys for fighting to the end. They did not quit. But we have to learn how to finish.
“The point of emphasis, the key to victory was to not let their receivers beyond you. Now, credit to those guys; they are the two best in the country. They put it on film and they were outstanding today. We could not cover them.
“And we continued to struggle in the vertical pass game. We had some nice conversions in the second quarter, but we did not follow that up in the second half. I have to get that fixed.
“They (the players) are obviously hurting, but we are in the middle of the storm and don’t know how to get out of it. The seniors are hurting, and I feel awful for those guys. It is very challenging for all of us, but we are going to keep going, keep chopping wood. One positive from this game is that they did not quit.”
Penn State will again enter the game on Saturday as a significant underdog, but being at home and showing improvements at Ohio State will help. Kickoff is at 12 noon at Beaver Stadium.
