Relentless Hoosiers Won’t be Denied
Daddy Hoosier | October 25, 2020
You can talk about statistics. You can talk about execution. You can talk about instant replay. But at the end of the day the Indiana Hoosiers are 1-0 and the 8th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions are 0-1.
Perhaps it was fitting – a strange game in the midst of a strange year. Penn State outgained Indiana 488 yards to 211. They possessed the ball for more than two-thirds of the game and yet the Hoosiers led most of the way.
IU Head Coach Tom Allen talked about getting a win against a Top 25 opponent this week and that’s exactly what he got. In fact the victory was Indiana’s first against a Top 10 opponent since 1987 (Ohio State).
It wasn’t a thing of beauty but Indiana went toe to toe with a team that has College Football Playoff aspirations and the good guys played with a belief that they could win the game.
“These kids have come here with the belief that we’re going to do things like we did tonight,” said a horse Coach Allen after the game. “I just couldn’t be more proud of this group of young men for believing, for staying the course, and finding a way to win.”
Junior Running Back Stevie Scott’s 14 yard TD early in the 2nd was as much about desire and effort as it was execution. He ran over a Nittany Lion defender and then dove tenaciously toward the goal line in what was a clinic in scoring the ball.
Senior Wide Receiver Whop Philyor didn’t have a career day by any stretch of the imagination but his touchdown in Overtime on 3rd and Goal from the 9 was a critical play that kept Indiana’s chances alive.
And Junior Quarterback Mike Penix seemed a little off much of the night but in the final drive of regulation he led the Hoosiers on a 75 yard drive in 80 seconds. Then he converted the two-point conversion on a nifty keeper that tied things back up with 22 seconds to play, forcing overtime.
And finally there was that incredible body-abandoning dive on the two-point conversion in OT that put Penn State to bed and gave Indiana the win.
The Hoosiers best players made the biggest plays when it counted the most and seemingly willed IU to a gritty win when past Indiana teams would have surely folded.
“I went out and gave my all, relentless effort,” said an amped Mike Penix in the post-game press conference. “I just knew I couldn’t let the guys down.”
When asked about going for two points and the win in overtime Coach Allen said,
“What was going through my head – we got the 8th ranked team in the country down here in the end zone. I knew if we score we get the ball on the three – one play to win it. We’ve been close but I’m sick and tired of being close. So we just decided, I decided, we’re goin’.”
Stevie Scott talked about the team’s mentality going into the 4th quarter:
“We were telling each other just to finish strong and to keep playing our game, keep a positive mindset. We knew that we could make plays at any given moment as long as we stuck together as a team and didn’t let anything get us down.”
This was Indiana’s first game under new Offensive Coordinator Nick Sheridan. Statistically it wasn’t a stellar opening act but the performance should improve as the team finds more continuity and irons out some of the early-season wrinkles.
Defensively Indiana played well overall. Kane Wommack’s group played with confidence and discipline and at times really executed together as a unit. There were only a couple of major breakdowns and both of those resulted in touchdowns for Penn State. PSU QB Sean Clifford seemed to get away on several runs especially late in the second half but the Hoosiers forced three turnovers and were able to come away with several key stops.
Junior Linebacker Micah McFadden was seemingly everywhere as he recorded 11 solo tackles.
Junior Jamar Johnson also had a tremendous game with 10 tackles (7 solo), an interception and a forced fumble.
The Indiana victory was the first game featured on ESPN’s College Football Final. Clearly this Hoosier football team believes. Diehard Hoosier fans sensed Indiana had a great shot in this one all week long and now the rest of the country is starting to believe as well.
Indiana will travel to Rutgers next week to face a Scarlet Knight team that is fresh off its first Big Ten win since 2017.
Originally published here:
theiufb.wordpress.com
Daddy Hoosier | October 25, 2020
You can talk about statistics. You can talk about execution. You can talk about instant replay. But at the end of the day the Indiana Hoosiers are 1-0 and the 8th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions are 0-1.
Perhaps it was fitting – a strange game in the midst of a strange year. Penn State outgained Indiana 488 yards to 211. They possessed the ball for more than two-thirds of the game and yet the Hoosiers led most of the way.
IU Head Coach Tom Allen talked about getting a win against a Top 25 opponent this week and that’s exactly what he got. In fact the victory was Indiana’s first against a Top 10 opponent since 1987 (Ohio State).
It wasn’t a thing of beauty but Indiana went toe to toe with a team that has College Football Playoff aspirations and the good guys played with a belief that they could win the game.
“These kids have come here with the belief that we’re going to do things like we did tonight,” said a horse Coach Allen after the game. “I just couldn’t be more proud of this group of young men for believing, for staying the course, and finding a way to win.”
Junior Running Back Stevie Scott’s 14 yard TD early in the 2nd was as much about desire and effort as it was execution. He ran over a Nittany Lion defender and then dove tenaciously toward the goal line in what was a clinic in scoring the ball.
Senior Wide Receiver Whop Philyor didn’t have a career day by any stretch of the imagination but his touchdown in Overtime on 3rd and Goal from the 9 was a critical play that kept Indiana’s chances alive.
And Junior Quarterback Mike Penix seemed a little off much of the night but in the final drive of regulation he led the Hoosiers on a 75 yard drive in 80 seconds. Then he converted the two-point conversion on a nifty keeper that tied things back up with 22 seconds to play, forcing overtime.
And finally there was that incredible body-abandoning dive on the two-point conversion in OT that put Penn State to bed and gave Indiana the win.
The Hoosiers best players made the biggest plays when it counted the most and seemingly willed IU to a gritty win when past Indiana teams would have surely folded.
“I went out and gave my all, relentless effort,” said an amped Mike Penix in the post-game press conference. “I just knew I couldn’t let the guys down.”
When asked about going for two points and the win in overtime Coach Allen said,
“What was going through my head – we got the 8th ranked team in the country down here in the end zone. I knew if we score we get the ball on the three – one play to win it. We’ve been close but I’m sick and tired of being close. So we just decided, I decided, we’re goin’.”
Stevie Scott talked about the team’s mentality going into the 4th quarter:
“We were telling each other just to finish strong and to keep playing our game, keep a positive mindset. We knew that we could make plays at any given moment as long as we stuck together as a team and didn’t let anything get us down.”
This was Indiana’s first game under new Offensive Coordinator Nick Sheridan. Statistically it wasn’t a stellar opening act but the performance should improve as the team finds more continuity and irons out some of the early-season wrinkles.
Defensively Indiana played well overall. Kane Wommack’s group played with confidence and discipline and at times really executed together as a unit. There were only a couple of major breakdowns and both of those resulted in touchdowns for Penn State. PSU QB Sean Clifford seemed to get away on several runs especially late in the second half but the Hoosiers forced three turnovers and were able to come away with several key stops.
Junior Linebacker Micah McFadden was seemingly everywhere as he recorded 11 solo tackles.
Junior Jamar Johnson also had a tremendous game with 10 tackles (7 solo), an interception and a forced fumble.
The Indiana victory was the first game featured on ESPN’s College Football Final. Clearly this Hoosier football team believes. Diehard Hoosier fans sensed Indiana had a great shot in this one all week long and now the rest of the country is starting to believe as well.
Indiana will travel to Rutgers next week to face a Scarlet Knight team that is fresh off its first Big Ten win since 2017.
Originally published here:
Indiana 36 No. 8 Penn St 35
Relentless Hoosiers Won’t be Denied Daddy Hoosier | October 25, 2020 You can talk about statistics. You can talk about execution. You can talk about instant replay. But at the end of the day …
theiufb.wordpress.com
Last edited:
