Losers of five straight and continuing to go downhill fast, Indiana football has to now take on one of the best teams in the nation on Saturday in Bloomington.
The Hoosiers have lost three of their last five games by double digits, including a 21-point loss at home against No. 4 Michigan on October 8. Indiana has not won a football game since September 17, where they squeaked by Western Kentucky, 33-30.
The Nittany Lions have lost two of their last three games, with losses on the road against then-No. 5 Michigan, 41-17, and a home loss to No. 2 Ohio State, 44-31. Penn State is undefeated against unranked opponents this season and has not lost to an unranked team since losing 20-18 to Illinois on October 23, 2021.
Penn State leads the all-time series between the Nittany Lions and Hoosiers, 23-2, with one of their two losses all-time coming in 2020 against Michael Penix Jr. and Indiana. That was a one-hit-wonder type of season, as we can all see, and Penix Jr. stretch for the two-point conversion to win it for the Hoosiers over then-ranked No. 8 Penn State.
Now running on three weeks in a row of asking the same question about Indiana football: Will Tom Allen’s football program win another game this season? Could we potentially see some magic happen in Bloomington on Saturday? I doubt it.
Three bold predictions for Indiana football vs. No. 16 Penn State
#3. Bradley Jennings Jr. leads Hoosiers’ defense with 15 total tackles
Since Cam Jones has been held out of games due to an injury since October 1, Bradley Jennings Jr. has stepped up to the plate with two games of 10+ total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, and four passes defended. Jennings Jr. has led the Indiana football defense twice in total tackles (Michigan and Rutgers) and has managed to amass 30 total tackles in three weeks.
Still missing the key piece of Jones on defense, Jennings Jr. and Aaron Casey have been the backbone of this defense, even though they have struggled in nearly every game this season. I believe Jennings Jr. and Casey will total more than 25 total tackles in this game against Penn State, though the Hoosiers will likely get blown out.