Indiana University
Penn State
Hoosiers Fall to Penn State at Home
11/8/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Site: Memorial Stadium (Bloomington, Ind.) Score: Penn State 13, Indiana 7 Records: IU (3-6), Penn State (5-4) Next IU Game: Saturday, Nov. 15 -- at Rutgers (Piscataway, N.J.), Time TBD Related Links: Statistics / PDF / Game Notes / Quotes /  Photos /  Highlights / Coach Wilson |
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The Nittany Lions' defense stepped up. Sam Ficken did, too.
Ficken kicked a 27-yard go-ahead field goal and Penn State defeated Indiana 13-7 to snap a four-game skid.
Ficken's kick gave Penn State a 10-7 lead which he later extended with a 28-yard field goal with under a minute to play.
Christian Hackenberg was 12 of 29 for 168 yards and Bill Belton ran for 137 yards and a touchdown for the Nittany Lions (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten), who haven't lost more than five games since 2004.
Penn State held Tevin Coleman to just 71 yards rushing. He was first in the nation in rushing yards per game entering Saturday's contest and finished with less than 100 rushing yards for the first time in 10 games.
"They were amazing," Coleman said of the Nittany Lion defense. "The linebackers were filling the holes and I couldn't go anywhere. They're a really good defense and they just did their thing."
Zander Diamont was just 13 of 28 for 68 yards, but ran for 58 yards.
Both teams struggled to get much going on offense for much of the game and Penn State came up with just enough big plays.
The Nittany Lions had negative-4 rushing yards and moved the ball just 56 total yards in the first quarter. By halftime, Penn State and Indiana combined for 1 of 14 on third down conversions.
Still the Nittany Lions found a way to score 13 unanswered points after the Hoosiers took a 7-0 lead late in the second quarter.
Mark Murphy scored on a 47-yard interception return to give Indiana the lead.
But it didn't last long.
On the first play following the kickoff, Belton scored to tie the game with 3:37 remaining in the half
Belton's 92-yard run -- his fifth score of the year -- tied the longest play from scrimmage in program history and was the longest rushing touchdown by a single player in Penn State history.
Back in 1973 the Nittany Lions scored on a 92-yard play, but that was by two players and included a fumble.
Penn State had a chance to take a lead early on in the second quarter, though, but Hackenberg was sacked at the 6 before Indiana's Bobby Richardson blocked Ficken's 23-yard field goal attempt.
The sophomore quarterback was sacked five times, including two that came in a fourth quarter drive with a shot at putting the game out of reach.
After Penn State took a 10-7 lead, Indiana's Griffin Oakes missed a 51-yard field goal attempt with a chance to tie the game early in the fourth quarter.
The Hoosiers had another opportunity midway through the fourth quarter when Greg Gooch intercepted a pass by Hackenberg -- his 12th interception of the season. But Indiana couldn't put a drive together. Diamont threw two incompletions and was sacked for a loss of eight yards.
The Indiana defense had 11 tackles for loss, a season-high five sacks and an interception returned for a touchdown.Indiana returns to action Saturday, Nov. 15, at Rutgers, the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The time is to be determined and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
