The first four drives of this game all ended in punts, as the offenses struggled to find big plays early. On the first play of Indiana’s third drive, Fernando Mendoza found Charlie Becker for a 53-yard pass deep down the middle to set up the Hoosiers in the red zone. Two plays later, Mendoza rushed up the middle for an 18-yard touchdown run. Indiana led 7-0 late in the first quarter.
A key third-down conversion from Ethan Grunkemeyer to Trebor Peña for 43 yards moved Penn State into the red zone on the ensuing
drive. Nick Singleton ran it on each of the following three plays and capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7 early in the second quarter:
The Hoosiers answered with a 15-play, 65-yard drive that ate up nearly nine minutes. A questionable defensive holding call negated a Dani Dennis-Sutton sack on third down midway through the possession. Indiana had it first and goal at the Penn State five, but a sack by Daryus Dixon and a false start penalty stalled the drive, and Nico Radicic converted a field goal to put Indiana on top 10-7.
Kaytron Allen fumbled inside Penn State’s 25 with 1:09 in the half on the ensuing drive to give Indiana a golden chance to extend the lead before halftime. It took just three plays for the Hoosiers to make Penn State pay, with Kaelon Black plunging in from a yard out. Indiana led 17-7 at halftime.
Ethan Grunkemeyer threw an interception to Jamari Sharpe on Penn State’s first drive of the second half. Indiana drove into the red zone but was held to just a field goal and a 20-7 lead.
The Nittany Lions moved down the field with a couple of big passing plays- one to Trebor Peña and one to Koby Howard. A Ryan Barker field goal cut the Indiana lead to 20-10 late in the third quarter.
After the defense managed a stop, Nicholas Singleton finally broke free a big run, a 59-yard gain down to the one-yard line. Singleton rushed in from a yard out after an offside penalty on Indiana to cut the Hoosiers’ lead to 20-17 with 11:36 to play:
With Indiana facing second and 8 on its ensuing drive, King Mack intercepted Fernando Mendoza at the Indiana 44 to set up the offense with excellent field position:
Penn State put together an excellent drive off of the turnover, and Nicholas Singleton’s 19-yard catch and run on a screen pass from Grunkemeyer found the end zone to put the Nittany Lions on top for the first time in the game. Penn State led 24-20 with 6:27 to play:
The defense came up clutch on the ensuing possession, with a sack from Dani Dennis-Sutton and the crowd helping to force a delay of game penalty on third down. Penn State got the ball back with four minutes left and a chance to salt away the game with its offense.
Kaytron Allen converted a critical third and 2 to give the offense a fresh set of downs near the two-minute timeout. The drive fizzled out as Indiana used its timeouts, and Indiana took over at its own 20 with 1:51 left after Gabriel Nwosu’s punt bounced into the end zone.
Indiana marched right down the field, and an incredible catch in the end zone by Omar Cooper, Jr. gave Indiana a 27-24 lead with 36 seconds to play. The Nittany Lions could not find an answer on a desperation drive, and the Hoosiers won for the first time ever at Beaver Stadium.
