At least it was the last road game

Whenever Penn State makes a big play, the Beaver Stadium PA plays the sound of a mountain lion roaring/growling/hissing (The sound can be best described as "Rraaaaow!"). There were some 43 growls in Penn State's 52-7 victory over IU. (I keep track of the really important stats.) I'm not sure if that's a record, but it certainly must come close.\nDespite entering the game with no Big Ten victories, the Nittany Lions were 19-point favorites. I was a bit skeptical of Vegas' ability to call this one. Penn State had only scored over 19 four times this year. Its highest output had come in a 32-10 win over Kent State. Could IU really be that bad?\nYes. And then some.\nThings didn't look that way at first. In fact, it appeared that the Hoosiers were poised to contend for their first road win since 2001. IU scored on its first drive of the game for the second straight game and the second time all year.\nThe way the Hoosiers moved the ball downfield was easily the most impressive IU has looked on offense all year. Freshman BenJarvus Green-Ellis carried the ball eight times for 45 yards, and the drive was capped off by Matt LoVecchio's first touchdown pass since the Kentucky game as he threw a dart to Glenn Johnson in the end zone.\nAfter that, the Hoosiers looked like deer in headlights. (I should know; I nearly hit one driving through the Allegheny Mountains -- a deer, not a football player). The secondary apparently decided to employ a new coverage strategy called "If none of us stand within 10 yards of the receiver, maybe he'll get scared and drop it."\nIncredibly, this strategy backfired. The first example was on Zack Mills' 12-yard pass to Tony Johnson to tie the game on a throw that was about as easy as playing catch in the front yard. No one was even close to Johnson, which is pretty poor form when it is third down and you are trying to make a goal line stand.\nPenn State's next possession started at its own 4-yard line after an excellent punt by Tyson Beattie. On a critical third and six from the eight, Mills found Maurice Humphrey for an eight-yard gain after the IU secondary gave the Penn State receivers a cushion that allowed it to cross the first down line before it got into coverage. Penn State's 96-yard touchdown drive took only nine plays.\nPenn State would score again on its first possession of the second quarter. This drive was even easier for the Lions, who went 80 yards in four plays. Mills found Humphrey on a 33-yard post pattern, but I'm not sure if Humphrey even needed to make the effort of running an actual pattern. There was not a single white jersey within a 10-yard radius. It was as if everyone forgot that Humphrey even existed.\nDespite trailing 21-7 at halftime, the Hoosiers had to feel that there was a chance for them to win. The offense had moved the ball nicely, consistently getting into Penn State territory after starting at the 20-yard line every time they had the ball. But things would fall apart around the Penn State 35, just outside of field goal range. If they could get a defensive stop or a turnover, then just maybe …\nAnd then came that bane of IU football: the third quarter. Entering the game, the Hoosiers had been outscored 90-26 in the third this season. After this game, that total would be 121-26. If your math skills are better than mine, you know that means that Penn State scored 31 points in the third quarter. And if your memory skills are better than mine, you'll recall that the Lions hadn't scored more than 32 in a whole game this year.\nAll of this brings up a very important question. How bad is Illinois?\nName to look for\nPenn State kickoff specialist David Kimball is incredible. He ended the game with seven touchbacks, and most of them went out of the end zone (three split the uprights). His last couple "only" went six yards deep, but that's because his leg was undoubtedly tired after so many kicks. Some NFL team will have him in its lineup next year.\nIU MVP\nGreen-Ellis had one of the finest games by a freshman in IU history. BJGE ran for 203 yards on 42 carries. The 203 yards was the fourth best performance by a freshman running back for a Hoosier, only behind efforts by Alex Smith and Anthony Thompson. His 42 attempts broke the record for carries by a Penn State opponent, which was set by Tony Dorsett in 1976 with 38.