UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Take a look back at Saturday's 45-22 victory over Indiana.
Welcome to in-game coverage for the 2012 Penn State Football season. Each week, GoPSUsports.com will provide insight from the press box at all 12 games on the schedule. Check back often for running updates as the action unfolds.
The Nittany Lions take on Indiana in the penultimate game of the season in Beaver Stadium.
4:26, 1st Quarter - Penn State 7, Indiana 0
Allen Robinson's fourth-down, 26-yard touchdown reception capped off a seven-play, 91-yard drive for the Nittany Lions. After a costly fumble and an incompletion forced the Hoosiers to punt the ball, McGloin completed 4-of-5 passes on the drive. With the touchdown pass, McGloin broke the program's single-season completions record (235) and moved into second place on the career passing yardage list.
End of the 1st Quarter, Penn State 7, Indiana 0
Although Indiana ended the quarter driving down to the Nittany Lions' nine-yard line, Penn State kept its ninth opponent scoreless in the opening frame. Besides the Penn State touchdown drive, the Nittany Lions have struggled to find its rhythm. Indiana will open the second with a first-and-goal from the nine-yard line.
14:44, 2nd Quarter - Penn State 7, Indiana 3
Although Indiana's Mitch Ewald connected on a 26-yard field goal, Penn State did a great job forcing the attempt after the Hoosiers started the quarter with a first-and-goal. The Nittany Lion defense forced three straight incompletions, highlighted by Jacob Fagnano's pass breakup in the end zone. The field goal capped off a 10-play, 55-yard drive for the Hoosiers.
13:20, 2nd Quarter - Indiana 10, Penn State 7
Ted Bolster's two-yard touchdown reception finished a six-play, 27-yard drive for the Hoosiers. Cameron Coffman went 4-for-5 through the air on the drive and ran for seven yards as Indiana capitalized on Matt McGloin's interception.
8:56, 2nd Quarter - Penn State 14, Indiana 10
Allen Robinson's career-long 53-yard touchdown reception capped off a six-play, 75 yard-reception drive for the Nittany Lions. Facing a second-and-three, Robinson made the reception near the line of scrimmage before executing a beautiful spin move to avoid the tackle and sprinting down the field for the score. Great response by the Penn State offense after Indiana grabbed the lead on the previous drive.
7:06, 2nd Quarter - Penn State 14, Indiana 13
Mitch Ewald knocked through a 44-yard field goal to cap off a seven-play, 51-yard drive for the Hoosiers. Indiana effectively used its hurry-up offense to move down the field, but the drive was slowed following an eight-yard sack from Stephen Obeng-Agyapong.
2:25, 2nd Quarter - Penn State 21, Indiana 13
Allen Robinson caught his third touchdown of the day to finish off a nine-play, 77-yard drive for the Nittany Lions. After Penn State opened the drive with eight straight runs, McGloin connected with Robinson for a 10-yard touchdown on third down. With the touchdown pass, McGloin moved into sole possession of first place on the program's all-time list with his 44th career touchdown strike.
0:31, 2nd Quarter - Penn State 28, Indiana 13
Zach Zwinak recorded his first career receiving touchdown with a 16-yard grab to end a three-play, 62-yard drive. Freshman tight end Jesse James opened the drive with a career-long 42-yard catch before McGloin connected with Zwinak two plays later. The drive was set up by Gerald Hodges' acrobatic interception.
Halftime - Penn State 28, Indiana 13
Although the Penn State offense struggled at times, the unit flourished toward the end of the half as the team registered touchdowns on its last three drives. The Nittany Lion defense also kept the Indiana attack at bay, forcing the Hoodiers to take field goals and also forcing a turnover that resulted in Zach Zwinak's score. Matt McGloin completed the first half 12-for-18 for 218 yards and four touchdowns as he continues his ascention up the Penn State record books. Wide receiver Allen Robinson, who has three touchdown grabs on the day, also moved into first place on the program's single-season receptions list.
13:04, 3rd Quarter - Penn State 28, Indiana 19
After a defensive
stand, the Hoosiers struck on their first play from scrimmage when Cameron
Coffman found Stephen Houston for a 79-yard catch and run for a touchdown. The extra point was no good, which set the
score at 28-19. The 79-yard score was
the longest play from scrimmage the Nittany Lions have allowed this season.
8:34, 3rd Quarter - Penn State 28, Indiana 22
The Hoosiers trimmed the Nittany Lion lead down
to six (28-22) with a 46-yard field goal attempt from Mitch Ewald. Indiana obtained possession following a Zach
Zwinak fumble, Penn State's second turnover of the afternoon.
5:33, 3rd Quarter - Penn State 35, Indiana 22
Needing an answer,
the Nittany Lions stepped up with a big touchdown drive. McGloin found Robinson for a 42-yard
connection on the first play of the nine-play march. Two key completions to Brandon Moseby-Felder,
including one on fourth down, set the Lions up with a first down at the 1. Zwinak plunged in from there for his first
touchdown of the afternoon.
0:17, 3rd Quarter - Penn State 42, Indiana 22
After Indiana
scored the first nine points of the third quarter, Penn State countered with
two-straight touchdown drives to take a commanding 20-point lead. The second scoring drive covered 52 yards on
eight plays. Michael Zordich capped off
the drive with a powerful four-yard touchdown run into the south end zone. Before Zordich's score, McGloin passed Daryll
Clark to become Penn State's season passing leader (3,009). McGloin is just the second 3,000-yard passer
in school history. Also, Zwinak eclipsed
100 rushing yards during the drive, marking his third-straight 100-yard outing
and fifth in the last seven games.
FINAL - Penn State 45, Indiana 22
The Nittany Lions
scored their seventh win of the 2012 season behind a huge day from the
offense. Fueled by 395 passing yards and
four touchdowns passes from Matt McGloin, Penn State tallied a season-high 546
offensive yards in the 23-point victory over Indiana. Penn State led 28-13 at halftime, but the
momentum shifted into Indiana's favor after the Hoosiers' first offensive play
in the second half when Coffman found Houston for a 79-yard score. Indiana added a field goal two possessions
later to make it a 28-22 game at the 8:34 mark in the third quarter. However, Penn State's next two drives defined
the victory for the Nittany Lions.
Zwinak and Zordich visited the end zone on back-to-back scoring drives
to put the game out of reach. It was a day
record day for McGloin, who moved into sole possession of first place on the
program's career passing touchdown (45), single-season completions (251) and
single-season yardage (3,071) lists. His
395 passing yards were just four yards shy of the single game record set by
Zach Mills (vs. Iowa in 395). Robinson
also had a stellar performance on Saturday, finishing with 10 receptions for
197 yards and three touchdowns. Robinson
needed just one reception to break the season reception record coming into the
game. He will head into the final week
of the season with 73 receptions. It was
a collective team victory for the Nittany Lions on Saturday.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Pregame Reading:
- Saturday marks another week with superb gameday weather. Temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 40s with sunny skies and light wind throughout the day. The finely manicured sod at Beaver Stadium had some frost on it when the team arrived at 9:30 a.m., but the field is in ideal condition.
- Sophomore Zach Zwinak enters the Indiana game with four 100-plus yard rushing performances in his last six games. That list includes a career-best 141 yards in last Saturday's game at Nebraska. Zwinak leads the Nittany Lions in rushing with 686 yards (5.0 yards per carry). The Lions will likely use a heavy dose of Zwinak, Michael Zordich and Bill Belton against an Indiana defense that yielded 564 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns last week against Wisconsin. Zwinak ranks sixth in Big Ten games with 98.3 yards per game.
- Penn State has played its fair share of teams that like to operate at a quick tempo, but the scouting report of Indiana indicates that the Hoosier offense plays quicker than anyone else on the schedule. The Indiana attack likes to run between 90 and 100 offensive plays every week. In order to do so, the Hoosiers must find a way to pick up first downs on a consistent basis. Sophomore quarterback Cameron Coffman leads the Indiana offensive unit, which leads the conference in passing.
Leave a comment