Indiana University Athletics
Game Notes: Indiana Opens Season vs. No. 8/7 Penn State
10/20/2020 8:30:00 AM | Football
Setting The Scene
• RV/RV Indiana kicks off its 136th season of football against No. 8/7 Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 24. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. EST at Memorial Stadium (Field Turf) on FS1.
• IU has won 14 of its last 16 season openers.
• The Hoosiers are 42-18 in Memorial Stadium openers with wins in 16 of their last 18 and 33 of their last 38.
• Indiana will start a season with PSU for the first time.
• This is the 12th time IU has opened the year against a ranked team and the second time in Bloomington (No. 2 Ohio State - Aug. 31, 2017).
• The Hoosiers will begin the season at home for the first time since 2017 vs. Ohio State.
• Indiana's last Top-10 win came at No. 9 Ohio State (31-10) on Oct. 10, 1987.
• Penn State leads the overall series, 22-1, including a 9-1 mark at Memorial Stadium. IU defeated PSU, 44-24, in Bloomington on Oct. 5, 2013.
• The team voted husky Marcelino Ball, center Harry Crider, linebacker Cam Jones, linebacker Micah McFadden and quarterback Michael Penix Jr. season captains.
• Three Hoosiers hail from Pennsylvania: defensive tackle Shamar Jones (Johnstown), and offensive linemen Mike Katic (Gibsonia) and Tim Weaver (Hellertown).
• Indiana returns 19 starters, including eight on offense, nine on defense and two on special teams.
The Coaches
• One of 22 semifinalists for the 2019 George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, Tom Allen's 18 wins are the most for an Indiana head coach over his first three seasons. A 28-year coaching veteran, Allen was named the program's 29th head football coach on Dec. 1, 2016. (full bio on page 14)
• James Franklin is 56-23 (.709) in his seventh season at Penn State. Franklin served as Vanderbilt head coach (2011-13) and carries an overall record of 80-38 (.678).
2019 News & Notes
• IU posted an 8-5 record and a 5-4 Big Ten mark en route to an appearance in the 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against Tennessee, the program's first bowl game in the state of Florida.
• The Hoosiers won eight games for just the eighth time in program history and the first time since 1993. Indiana owns six eight-win (1905, 1979, 1987, 1988, 1993, 2019) and two nine-win (1945, 1967) campaigns.
• IU's five-conference wins tied for the third-most in program history (1945, 1979, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2019).
• The Hoosiers posted a winning conference record for the first time since 1993 (5-3).
• On Nov. 10, IU entered the Associated Press Poll (No. 24) for the first time since Sept. 20, 1994, and the Coaches Poll (No. 25) for the first time since Oct. 17, 1994.
