On a Penn State third-and-10 on its own 36 yard line, junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg dropped back to pass. Around the edge on his blindside, IU sophomore linebacker Tegray Scales rushed untouched to sack the quarterback and strip the football.
As the ball was recovered by senior bandit Zack Shaw, it appeared the Hoosiers would have the ball in favorable field position near the red zone in a scoreless ball game until a flag was thrown near the line of scrimmage.
A hands-to-the-face personal foul on IU. A 15-yard penalty.
Penn State, which nearly gave the ball to IU in scoring position, received the ball on IU’s 49 yard line, where Hackenberg would complete a pass for 10 yards and then another for 39 yards and a touchdown.
It was a 14-point play where the ball could have been in the red zone for the Hoosiers, but instead was a touchdown for Penn State.
This swing contributed to IU’s 29-7 loss to the Nittany Lions on Saturday.
“That was a turning point,” sophomore linebacker Marcus Oliver said about the personal foul. “We almost gave the ball to the offense right there in the red zone. That’s a game-changer right there.”
Standing as the lone penalty of the half for the Hoosiers the personal foul was the only penalty IU had going into the locker room at halftime, down 19-7.
Through the second half, IU had seven, costing them a total of 50 yards.
Five of the second half penalties were on the offensive side of the ball, where IU was already struggling to move the ball with its third string quarterback freshman Danny Cameron and second string running back sophomore Devine Redding.
On IU’s second drive of the half, sophomore quarterback Zander Diamont had completed two consecutive passes to junior receiver Ricky Jones for first downs, when he rushed for six yards and appeared to be hit helmet-to-helmet.
When the penalty was not called, Wilson requested an answer and was penalized for sideline interference, costing the Hoosiers 15 yards and resulting in an Eric Toth punt in Penn State territory.
“It took eight more seconds to spot the ball, and I started complaining about it, so they flagged me for an unsportsman-like,” Wilson said. “The ball was inside the hash and the referees aren’t trying to jack you but we had the rhythm. I was just like, ‘Come on, put it down and let’s play.’ They got mad at me, and they just missed the crown of the helmet on my quarterback but nobody saw that.”
Wilson also said the penalty hurt the team, and it was poor of him after the team hadn’t capitalized on the potential strip-sack in the first quarter or the recovered onside kick after its first score.
Wilson and Oliver also mentioned that the team expressed selfishness throughout the game, trying to make plays rather than staying within the scheme and playing as a team.
“In general, I think our football team was a little more individual-oriented today,” Wilson said. “We need to tighten down the screws. I thought we had a good week of practice and thought we were ready but, like I said, I think there was a little bit more selfishness in our actions as individuals today.”
