Indiana Football vs Penn State: Game time, TV channel, odds, prediction, and more
By Alec Lasley
The Indiana football program is off its bye and heads into Happy Valley to try to get an upset win against Penn State.
With three games left in the regular season for the Indiana football program, it continues to be in uncharted territory. Usually fighting for one or two more wins to become bowl eligible, this time around, the Hoosiers sit at 7-2 and look to improve their record, and top-25 ranking.
With Michael Penix undergoing season-ending surgery leading up to the Northwestern game, Peyton Ramsey has become the full-time starter for the remainder of the season and will look to lead the Hoosiers to a bowl victory, something they haven’t done since 1991.
Heading into Penn State this weekend won’t be an easy task, but with how Indiana has been playing, currently on a four-game winning streak, nothing is out of the question.
For the Nittany Lions, they will look to bounce back after their first loss of the 2019 season, falling on the road to Minnesota last week, and remain in the College Football Playoff hunt.
Sean Clifford has taken over where Trace McSorley left off with the Penn State offense as it continues to be one of the most explosive offenses at times with the weapons surrounding him on the outside.
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Clifford, however, will be coming off of his worst game of the season when he threw three interceptions, his only game with more than one this year, and a game that accounted for half of his entire season total (6).
One way Minnesota was able to beat the Nittany Lions was making them more one-dimensional. Clifford threw 44 passes, a season high, compared to just 28 rushes, and that’s not the ideal situation Penn State wants to be in. On the season, Clifford has thrown for 2,271 yards and 21 touchdowns.
The Hoosiers do have to watch out for his ability to scramble, as they have given up chunk yardage to opposing QB’s at times.
On the outside, the guys who will be catching the ball from Clifford are some of the best young weapons in the Big Ten. Led by KJ Hamler, 44 receptions for 739 yards and eight touchdowns, there are three pass catchers who put a lot of pressure on the defense. In addition to Hamler is tight end Pat Freiermuth who is second in the team in catches (32), yards (392), and touchdowns (7). What will help the Hoosiers though is the lack of options. Though they are some of the better ones, there are only three real threats, as only four players have more than 10 catches on the season.
It will be interesting to see how the Indiana secondary can respond to one of the bigger challenges, in terms of matching up with the skill on the outside.
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Key Storylines
Indiana: The Hoosiers look to get their first signature win this season, can it be on Saturday? Peyton Ramsey is the starter for the rest of the season, how will he react to being under center from here on out? Penn State has the best run defense in the Big Ten. Can Stevie Scott continue his terrific play? The IU secondary will need to play its best game yet against the talented receiving core of the Nittany Lions.
Penn State: How will they respond following the first loss of the season? A matchup with Ohio State next week, will they look ahead? Can the defense get enough pressure on Ramsey to control the top ranked passing offense in the conference?
How To Watch: Game Time, T.V., Radio, More
Kickoff Time: 12:00 PM EST
Where: State College, PA
TV: ABC
Radio: HoosiersTV, TuneIn
Online Stream: WatchESPN
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Betting Odds: Spread, O/U
Opening Line: Penn State -14.5
Current Line: Penn State -14.0
Opening O/U: 54.5
Current O/U: 54.0
Courtesy of The Action Network