Trip to Happy Valley Awaits Hoosiers
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 2/2 Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) have never won at Beaver Stadium, which is their next destination on Saturday when they face Penn State (3-5, 0-5). They are 0-13 there, and 2-25 overall against the Nittany Lions.
That has no relevance in Curt Cignetti’s 20-2 coaching era, during which program records and achievements come as a weekly pace.
Yes, linebacker Isaiah Jones says from the Don Croftcheck Team Room at Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium, the Hoosiers are aware of another never-been-done-before opportunity.
“We look forward to it,” he says, “but for us, it’s just another Saturday, another game. Beaver Stadium is an awesome environment to play in, a historic place. I was there my sophomore year. It’s exciting to be there and be with the guys and try to keep making history.”
Dramatic changes in the Penn State football program alter nothing, Jones adds.
The Nittany Lions might have a new coach (Terry Smith replaced James Franklin) and a new quarterback (redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer took over for the injured Drew Allar), they might have lost five-straight games to fall out of national championship contention, but the Hoosier objective remains the same.
“We’re on a mission to go 1-0 each week,” Jones says. “Whoever is coaching or taking quarterback snaps doesn’t matter to us. We want to do our job and come out with a victory.”
The Hoosiers are well prepared for Beaver Stadium’s anticipated 100,000-plus crowd just as they were for loud, intimidating stadiums at Iowa and Oregon.
They won in both of those settings.
“You get that when you're in the Big Ten,” Jones says. “That's something that you try to tune out. You try to stay within the white lines and do the best you can. (A crowd like that) definitely has a role, and I think it plays in their favor, but we will see on Saturday.”
The Nittany Lions’ changes in head coach and quarterback, Jones says, won’t affect Hoosier preparation.
“We’re still playing Penn State, still playing at Beaver Stadium that holds more than 100,000 people. Scheme-wise, they might not be able to run the same stuff they did with Allar, but we’ll watch all the tape and come up with a plan.”
Penn State has two of the Big Ten’s best running backs with veterans Kaytron Allen (688 yards, 10 touchdowns) and Nicholas Singleton (292 yards, seven TDs)
“They’ve been elite running backs since I got here as a freshman,” says Jones, who is a junior. “They’re a strong 1-2 punch. They are really good at playing off each other. They have a lot of skills. It will be an exciting matchup.”
IU will bring the Big Ten’s best rushing attack. It averages 245.7 yards per game, better than Oregon (237.0) and Michigan (223.8). The Hoosiers had 367 rushing yards during last week’s win at Maryland, and did it without injured starting offensive lineman Drew Evans. Zen Michalski replaced him.
“It’s playing for each other,” center Pat Coogan says about the continued offensive line success despite missing a starter. “It’s playing for a bigger purpose. It’s always five of us out there. It’s a credit to Zen for stepping up and taking on a big role.”
Coogan adds that the line’s understanding of team over individual allows for that success no matter who plays.
“That we play for a bigger purpose gives this offense a chance to succeed,” he says. “We know that’s us doing our jobs and being the best versions of us.
“It’s fun to put up numbers like that, but then you put it on the tape and it doesn’t feel that way. We have so many areas to improve.”
What are those areas?
“It was awfully sloppy from a personal standpoint and across the board,” Coogan says. “All of us would say the same thing. We have to improve drastically.
“There are many areas to improve on -- technique-wise, sloppy hands, sloppy technique that didn’t show who we truly are. We have to get back to the basics and back to playing with great technique on hand placement and hat placement.”
If the Hoosiers do, if the Big Ten’s best offense at 46.4 points, if a team that beats opponents by a conference-leading 35.7 points, consistently reaches that, look out.