Indiana Football: Mental mistakes doom Hoosiers in loss to Penn State

Indiana football came very close to securing a season defining win, but mental mistakes and questionable decision making cost them the game.

The Indiana football program fell just short of securing a program defining win against a top-10 team on the road. They took Penn State down to the wire, but there were simply too many mistakes made by all parts of the team for Indiana to pull of the upset, falling 34-27.

Indiana’s first two drives resulted in touchdowns, as Peyton Ramsey and company were clicking early on the offensive side of the ball. However, after Whop Philyor’s head injury took him out of the game in the second quarter, the offense stalled. After leading 14-10, Indiana went scoreless in the second quarter and went into halftime down 20-14.

Indiana showed a lot of fight coming out of the break, bringing themselves to within three at the beginning of the fourth quarter after overcoming a dropped would-be touchdown from senior Donovan Hale.

Penn State then led an eight minute and 18 play drive capped off by a one yard touchdown on fourth and goal by quarterback Sean Clifford. It seemed to be the theme of the game. Indiana made enough plays to keep them in the game, but when it mattered most they could not come up clutch.

Peyton Ramsey played an incredible game making plays with his feet and through the air. He threw for 371 yards and a touchdown while rushing for two more. It was encouraging to see the redshirt junior continue to play well in replacement of Penix.

Ty Fryfogle led the Indiana receivers with a career day of 131 yards on five catches and a touchdown, while freshman David Ellis finished with seven catches for 85 yards.

Sean Clifford led Penn State with 178 yards through the air and 55 on the ground, with three total touchdowns.

All afternoon it was defined by mental mistakes. Whether it be the Whop Philyor muffed punt on the first drive of the game, or the ‘fake punt’ in the second half, the Hoosiers theoretically beat themselves.

Indiana still has Michigan and Purdue to play, and it’s not unreasonable to think that they could win them both. Though it was not the result Indiana wanted, the program is certainly trending in the right direction and could still secure a huge win this year against Michigan.