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The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

Still haven’t arrived: Being ranked is not enough for IU football ahead of Penn State matchup

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Always building, never arrived.

That’s the mindset IU football has adopted this season. Never be satisfied and never become complacent with where you are as a program.

After defeating Nebraska to clinch its first bowl appearance since 2016, IU head coach Tom Allen said winning six games was the expectation. Winning a bowl game was the goal.

Now after being ranked No. 24 — the first time IU has been ranked since Sept. 20, 1994 — the message remains the same.

“Just because you get ranked one week, doesn't mean all of a sudden you've arrived,” Allen said. “As I talk to our players about what that means, some people will choose to be satisfied with it, then it will go away if that's what you choose to do.”

Before the season started, IU tempered its expectations as it was coming off back-to-back seasons falling one game shy of the postseason at the hands of Purdue. 

Tack on the countless injuries to the offensive line, the constant questions about the health of redshirt-freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and an early season 51-10 loss to Ohio State made the likelihood of seeing IU on the rankings list seem bleak.

For those inside the program, being ranked was an inevitability, not a long shot.

“I knew the hard work was going to pay off sooner or later,” freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen said. “I knew it wasn’t going to take us two to three years to change it around.”

Now that IU has a new No. 24 sitting next to its name, the Hoosiers have a tall task in front of them to keep their ranking as they set out to take on Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania.

Not only are the Nittany Lions the No. 9 team in the country, but they also have something to prove as they are coming off their first loss of the season at the hands of No. 7 Minnesota.

In IU’s first game since the announcement that Penix Jr. would miss the remainder of the season after having shoulder surgery, the Hoosiers run into the No. 13 defense in the country. Penn State’s defense has only allowed an average of 4.33 yards per play so far this season and have only given up 13 touchdowns.

The Nittany Lions are stout against the run — entering the week as the third best run defense in the country — and will look to take away sophomore running back Stevie Scott III from the IU game plan as he’s rushed for over 100 yards in three of IU’s past four games. 

Penn State surrenders only 74.2 rushing yards per game and is led by sophomore linebacker Micah Parsons who has the 10th most tackles in the Big Ten with 68.

On the other side of the ball, the Nittany Lions are good but nothing special.

Penn State just sneaks into the top-50 in total offense at No. 45 but have the ability to score in bunches. The Nittany Lions average 37.1 points per game and are led by their dynamic dual-threat sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford.

Clifford has the ability to pick apart a secondary as a capable passer with a big arm and has already racked up 2,271 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and only six interceptions so far this season. 

What makes Clifford different is his ability to blend the pro-style with being able to take off running when the opportunity presents itself with high effectiveness.

Clifford isn’t a quarterback who will call his own number often and take off running on designed runs, but he has shown throughout the season his ability to make plays with his feet as he’s rushed for 426 yards and three touchdowns.

As Penn State waits to show that its No. 9 ranking doesn’t do them justice, the Hoosiers are determined to prove they deserve their No. 24 ranking.

“If you don't believe we can go to Penn State and win at Penn State for the first time in program history, then don't get on the bus,” Allen said. “That's bottom line. If you don't believe, we got no chance.”

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