Penn State Football Players of the Game vs Indiana
By Marty Leap
Penn State football improved to 5-0 with a 45-14 win over Indiana Saturday afternoon. Here is a look at the players of the game from the victory.
It wasn’t the prettiest 31-point victory, but a win is a win. On Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium, the Penn State football team improved to 5-0 on the season, 2-0 in the Big Ten, with a 45-14 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers.
Despite sputtering in the run game, the Nittany Lions were able to earn a 31-point victory over a solid Indiana team that will go to a bowl on Saturday afternoon. Minus the field goal unit, special teams were fantastic again. In addition, the Nittany Lion defense continues to prove to be one of the best in the country, and the offense did enough to blowout the Hoosiers.
Here are the Penn State football players of the game from Saturday’s victory.
Offense – Wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton
Against the Hoosiers on Saturday afternoon, DaeSean Hamilton made history. The redshirt senior hauled in nine receptions for 122 yards and three touchdowns. With his nine receptions on Saturday Hamilton now has 181 for his career, which is a new school record, breaking Deon Butler‘s previous mark of 179.
Saturday was also the first multi-touchdown game of Hamilton’s illustrious Penn State career. Also, Hamilton became the go-to man for quarterback Trace McSorley amidst a struggling ground game.
Congratulations to DaeSean on a great career at Penn State! Here’s to hoping he and his teammates can finish it off with an appearance in the College Football Playoff.
Honorable mention – RB Saquon Barkley, QB Trace McSorley
Defense – Linebacker Jason Cabinda
In the first three games of the 2017 season Penn State’s linebacker play left a lot to be desired. However, linebacker play improved immensely last week against Iowa. This improvement continued on Saturday against Indiana and was led by senior defensive captain Jason Cabinda.
Jason Cabinda has had his fair share of great games for the Nittany Lions in his career and Saturday was just the latest. Cabinda recorded 14 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss, a sack, and a pass breakup in the Nittany Lion victory. He also recorded a pair of quarterback pressures.
So far this season Penn State’s defense has been one of the best in the country, and this has been despite subpar linebacker play. Now that Cabinda, Manny Bowen, and Koa Farmer are starting to play to their potential the Nittany Lion defense can be a very special unit.
Honorable mention: CB Christian Campbell, S Marcus Allen
Special teams – RB Saquon Barkley
There were a lot of possibilities here. However, the nod goes to the best player in college football – Saquon Barkley. Barkley started the game by returning the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to set the tone on Saturday.
This return by Barkley proved to everyone why the star running back returns kicks. This return set the tone for Penn State football’s blowout victory on Saturday. It also pads Saquon Barkley’s lead in the race for the Heisman Trophy.
Honorable mention: WR Irvin Charles, S Nick Scott
Next: Penn State 45, Indiana 14
That will do it for this week. The Nittany Lions are ranked fourth in the country with a 5-0 record and things are good in Happy Valley. The Penn State football team heads to Evanston next to play the underwhelming 2-2 Northwestern Wildcats next Saturday at noon.
