It was a slight improvement

STATE COLLEGE, PENN. – Agitated Penn State fans had one reason to relax after their team’s first loss in 2008 – IU was next on their schedule.

Unfortunately for the horrific Hoosiers, the conference clash was bad timing.

The Nittany Lions were coming off a shocking loss to Iowa that essentially shattered their hopes of advancing to the BCS title game.

After a week of what-ifs, Saturday’s game was nothing but revenge for Penn State. Not because Paterno and company held a grudge against the Hoosiers, but for the simple fact that a mediocre Iowa squad diverted the Nittany Lions’ quest for supremacy.

Prior to the coin toss, you could easily sense the Beaver Stadium crowd knew this game was in the bag.

But for one half, the valley wasn’t so happy.

An injury-shaken, downright dismal IU team surprisingly stood toe-to-toe with the Big Ten’s king of the jungle.

“(IU) wasn’t stopping us (in the first half),” Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark said following his team’s 34-7 win against the Hoosiers. “We were stopping ourselves. At the end of drives, we were supposed to put the hammer down and score some touchdowns, but we made some mistakes.”

Penn State might have beaten itself, but give credit to IU for hanging in for two quarters.

It looked like IU coach Bill Lynch was experimenting.

As crazy as this might sound, the Hoosiers actually ran the football. In fact, IU tallied twice as many rushing yards as Penn State did in the first half, culminating with a Marcus Thigpen 57-yard touchdown sprint. Quarterback Kellen Lewis, at last, when confided to the tackle box, opted to throw the football away rather than force a throw between defenders or rush for what would have been a sure loss.

And despite one blocked punt, the special teams unit escaped with little foul while pinned inside its own 20.

Hard to believe, I know.

Lynch had his team playing the right way, even if all it was doing was taking full advantage of Penn State’s mistakes.

Even with (gulp) halftime approaching, I knew these Hoosiers were going to be different in the second half.

“During halftime, we were psyched and ready to go out there in the second half,” defensive end Jammie Kirlew said. “We were like, ‘We could actually win this game.’”

I thought you guys could have pulled it off too, Jammie.

Out of the locker room, it was evident some Hoosiers had an extra hop in their step. I kept thinking to myself, “Boy, a win like this would do wonders for a team as atrocious as this one.”

But once the third quarter began, the whole complexity of the game changed.

The play-calling became conservative, the defense couldn’t penetrate the line and special teams couldn’t gain field position.

The Hoosiers’ defense, which was sound in the first half, allowed three touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. IU, for the second consecutive game, couldn’t register a single point after the break.

Lynch keeps attributing IU’s second half woes to the lack of continuity on offense. I understand injuries are detrimental, but like Rodger Saffold said, you “can’t make excuses.”

Coach, I think your gameplan was solid in the first half. You mixed up the play-calling by running the football more, and you even tried to get the tight ends involved. But you’re still missing the deep ball. Penn State might have adjusted in the second half, but your team still could have recorded more than one first down final half.

Maybe it’s like Kirlew’s said – you guys get too psyched for the second half.