Team one down on Lions

STATE COLLEGE, Penn. -- Cam Cameron's motto -- score one more or hold them to one less -- works well when IU scores one more. The Hoosiers average just less than 30 points a game.\nBut IU needed to hold Penn State to one less Saturday, and the Hoosier defense that made big plays in back-to-back victories heading into this weekend looked more like the one that ranks next-to-last in the Big Ten in points allowed.\nThe Nittany Lions converted 9-of-13 third downs, and three players set career highs in a 28-14 Penn State victory that deflated IU's bowl hopes. The Hoosiers are 3-6 with two games remaining.\n"(Third downs are) something that we've had trouble with all year, except for the last two games," senior defensive end Kemp Rasmussen said. "Somebody's got to step up and make a play, and today, nobody did. Myself included."\nWhile the Hoosiers struggled to make plays, three Nittany Lions had career days.\n• Junior quarterback Matt Senneca set career highs for passing yards (278) and total offense (325), and his 27-yard run in the fourth quarter was also a career best.\n• Sophomore split end Tony Johnson tied a career high with five catches and had his first 100-yard receiving day with 132.\n• Larry Johnson, a junior and Tony Johnson's older brother, set a career high with three touchdowns in the game.\nMany of the plays that trio made hurt IU even worse because they came on third down.\nTony Johnson alone had 103 yards receiving on third down, including a 32-yard gain on third-and-18 late in the first quarter. The reception gave Penn State a first-and-goal and led to a touchdown. Johnson caught a 60-yard pass on Penn State's next drive, again leading to a touchdown.\n"That's the critical down," IU head coach Cam Cameron said. "Especially early, they get 14 points early in the game when they were in third-and-long and third-and-long long.\n"And that's what you're trying to do. You're trying to get people in those positions and then at that point, keep the ball in front of you and then come up and make the play."\nSenior quarterback Antwaan Randle El said not all of the blame lies on the defense. The offense and defense have fed off each other's big plays over the past two weeks, and neither group held of its end of the bargain.\n"I think the second half, (our defense) came out and they got them stopped the first time," Randle El said. "And we get the ball. That's kind of how we feed off each other. They got them stopped; if we come down and score, then it's a totally different ballgame."\nStill, Randle El and Co. can do nothing about the big yardage given up on third downs and the occasional missed tackles.\nOn Penn State's final touchdown, a shovel pass, Larry Johnson broke at least three tackles before out-running two IU defenders for the score.\n"We need to give some credit to Penn State," Rasmussen said. "They played well. Those backs, they've got three talented backs that make you miss. We've gotta tackle better; we've gotta play our assignments better.\n"We just made too many mistakes to come up with a win"