The Penn State Nittany Lions (3-5) opened the year ranked No. 3 in the country and started the season 3-0 with Drew Allar as a Heisman candidate. That was all in late August and September, now fast forward to late October and early November and Penn State has falling off a cliff to say the least. Penn State has been the most disappointing team of the season. Allar is now out for the season, James Franklin has been fired and Penn State is closer to being last place in the Big Ten than a playoff team, oh how the mighty fall.
Penn State has lost five games in a row, they have been beaten by Oregon (30-24), at UCLA (42-37), vs. Northwestern (22-21), at Iowa (25-24) and at Ohio State (38-14).
This Saturday will be Penn State’s first home game since firing Franklin, the crowd holds 108,121 and is always one of the toughest places to play ever season but this game has no juice and the Nittany Lions are just trying to get bowl eligible at 3-5 which is highly unlikely.
Interim head coach who previously served as the Nittany Lions' associate head coach and defensive recruiting coordinator is now the man in charge of the program and the new signal-caller is ow redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer.
Grunkemeyer has completed 42 of 67 throws (62.7%) for 343 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions this season. The Lewis Center, Ohio native been sacked five times in two full games as the starter.
The Nittany Lions are No. 49th in scoring offense at 31.5 points per game. But they have only scored 24 a game during the five-game losing streak. The defense is still stout with the No. 41 overall defense, giving up 21.8 per game.
Indiana (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) has made it look easy through its schedule to this point in the season and that is why they are the No. 2 team in the nation. The marquee wins for Curt Cignetti's squad were the double-digit wins against Illinois (63-10) and Oregon (30-20), both of which were ranked in the top 10 at the time. They also defeated No. 20 Iowa on the road who was recently ranked by the College Football Playoff committee.
In their last outing Indiana beat Maryland by a final score of 55-10 on Saturday afternoon at SECU Stadium.
Indiana junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza is still a Heisman Trophy front runner along with Ohio State's Julian Sayin and Alabama's Ty Simpson. Mendoza on the season has 2,124 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, and 4 interceptions, along with 162 completions on 225 attempts and 76 rushing yards with 2 rushing touchdowns this season.
How to watch Indiana Hoosiers vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
- Who: No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (3-5, 0-5)
- When: Noon ET on Saturday, Nov. 8th
- Where: West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium (106,572) in University Park, PA
- TV: FOX
- TV announcers: Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (color), Jenny Taft (sideline)
- Radio: Indiana Hoosiers Sports Network, Sirius XM (channel 83)
- Radio announcers: Don Fischer (play-by-play), Buck Suhr (analyst), John Herrick
- Point spread: Indiana is a 14.5-point favorite over Penn State, and the over/under is 48.5 points. Indiana is a -700 favorite on the moneyline, while Penn State's moneyline odds are +500, according to the Fan Duel Sportsbook on Wednesday morning.
- Series history: The Nittany Lions lead the all-time series 25-2. Penn State won the first 16 matchups against Indiana dating back from 1993-2012, before Indiana broke the streak with a 44-24 victory (2013) in Bloomington. The second Indiana win of the series came in 2020, led by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr in a 36-35 overtime win. Penn State has won the last three matchups, but has not played Indiana under Curt Cignetti. This would be Indiana football's first win over Penn State on the road ever and would almost make Indiana a lock for the 2025 Big Ten Championship.
- Weather: According to weather.com, it’s going to be 54 degrees and mostly cloudy with a 15% chance of rain and west winds at 10 mph Saturday at Noon ET in University Park, PA.
The final game prediction:
All I have to say is expect more dominate football from Indiana on the road. Indiana is a tad bit banged up with Drew Evans out, Elijah Sarratt and Aiden Fisher questionable and a few injuries to back up players. I still believe Indiana's defense will give Grunkemeyer hell on Saturday.
Also Indiana's formula of running the ball to set up play action will be perfect to sound out the Penn State crowd. Give me Indiana, Louis Moore and Fernando Mendoza 34-14.