No. 24 IU football faces a bevy of challenges at No. 9 Penn State this weekend.
IU has never defeated Penn State at its home territory of State College, Pennsylvania. The Hoosiers own a 1-21 record all time against the Nittany Lions. The Hoosiers face an angry Nittany Lions squad coming off a loss at Minnesota.
IU plays its first game since losing starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to a season ending injury. The Peyton Ramsey-led IU offense faces a top-10 defense, the best defensive unit IU has faced since only scoring 10 points against Ohio State.
However, perhaps the biggest obstacle for IU on Saturday will come from the defensive side of the ball and trying to defend Penn State’s talented receiving corps.
The last time IU was tested by an offensive unit as good as Penn State’s, they gave up 51 points to Ohio State. The Hoosier defense should perform better than that Saturday.
While Penn State’s offense is very good, it is not on the same level as Ohio State’s. IU has also seen the rise of freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen since the loss to OSU, and that should make a difference as well.
“We've got some talented DBs as well, but they're going to be tested for sure, probably more so than they have been in a while,” IU head coach Tom Allen said.
But Penn State creates a matchup nightmare for defensive coordinator Kane Wommack's unit. IU is a team with a secondary that — outside of Mullen — has struggled and plays mainly man-to-man defense.
All of Penn State’s best pass catchers thrive facing one-on-one coverage, led by their sophomore star, do-everything receiver KJ Hamler.
“Hamler is as quick as you're going to see,” Allen said. “He makes a lot of people look silly in space.”
Hamler is absolutely lethal in the open field and is effective running routes on all three levels of the field, in addition to being one of the best kick returners in college football.
Wide receiver Jahan Dotson and running back Journey Brown are speedsters that are tough to guard one on one as well. Tight End Pat Freiermuth is the change of pace bruiser that is a matchup nightmare.
Sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford is at his best when he takes advantage of man coverage to pick a part of defense.
This leaves Wommack with essentially two choices: Play into the Nittany Lions’ hands and stay true to who the Hoosiers have been and be an aggressive defense that blitzes constantly and leaves defensive backs on an island.
Or try to adjust to take away Penn State’s strengths by playing zone and playing conservative. There are a few issues with that. Wommack and Allen would be asking the Hoosiers to play a completely different style than what they’ve done all season. In addition, IU’s defensive line — while improving — is not talented enough to consistently produce pressure on Clifford with just a four-man rush.
So it is fair to expect the IU coaching staff to stay true to their aggressive nature, and that is the right decision.
Mullen faces his toughest test of his young collegiate career and will likely be matched up with Hamler for what will be an extremely fun matchup. Junior husky Marcelino Ball will have to play his best football, as he is basically the only Hoosier that has a shot of matching up with Freiermuth. IU will have to get pressure on Clifford and keep him in the pocket to avoid extended plays.
It’s a lot to ask, but if the Hoosiers somehow pull all of that off and are able to put up points against a stout Nittany Lions defense, then maybe they can have a shot of pulling off an upset for the ages.
