Penn State Football: reasons for optimism against the Indiana Hoosiers

The defensive line

The Penn State defensive line has played well in each of the past two games.

After a rough outing at Michigan, they’ve turned things around from a run-stopping perspective. They held Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim to 3.4 yards per carry and TreVeyon Henderson from Ohio State to 4.9. Those are two of the best backs in the Big Ten that the Nittany Lions held to well below their season averages.

Indiana’s go-to running back is Shaun Shivers, a transfer from Auburn. He is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry this year and has just four touchdowns. I find it hard to believe he’ll be able to get much of anything going with how well Penn State’s defensive front has been playing.

Against the pass, I anticipate it being very similar. Though it hasn’t been great, Penn State’s pass rush has been disruptive–especially against lesser opponents. Indiana is second worst in the conference in sacks allowed, so this could be a big game for pass rushers such as Chop Robinson, Adisa Isaac, and Dani Dennis-Sutton.

To add to that, quarterback Connor Bazelak has thrown nine interceptions this year, which is second most in the Big Ten. He tends to make a lot of mistakes and inaccurate throws when he’s pressured, so this defensive front getting pressure on him and forcing him to make poor decisions against a great secondary is a recipe for success for Manny Diaz’s defense.