Penn State Football: 3 things we learned from the win over Indiana
3. Trust the defense
For a second there in the first quarter it looked like the Penn State defense picked up where it unfortunately left off after the Ohio State game.
Led by quarterback Jack Tuttle, the Hoosiers went 75 yards on eight plays in less than three minutes to tie the game at 7-7. The drive was similar to what the Ohio State offense looked like in the fourth quarter last week.
The Nittany Lions regrouped though a pitched a shutout until the third string gave up a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. In addition to not allowing any more points, the first team defense did what coordinator Manny Diaz wants: created chaos.
The Penn State defense finished the day with two interceptions, six sacks and 16 tackles for loss. A complete performance by this group.
The defense struggled at times against Michigan and Ohio State, but other than that, this group has been solid. Penn State’s defense gave up 24 points to Purdue to start the season but has not allowed more than 17 points to anyone else outside of Michigan and Ohio State.
The bend don’t break mentality has worked the majority of the time this season, and it should continue to be the thought process for the last three games of the season.