Indiana shocks Penn State
Indiana coach Tom Allen had grown weary of close calls in big games.
On Saturday, Allen went for it — and Michael Penix Jr. made those gambles pay off in the Hoosiers’ first game of the delayed season.
After leading Indiana on a touchdown drive in the final minute of regulation and scoring on a twopoint conversion to force overtime, Penix hooked up with Whop Philyor for a nine- yard TD pass in overtime and dove into the pylon for the decisive two- point conversion to give Indiana a 36- 35 home victory over No. 8 Penn State — its first win over a top- 10 team in more than 33 years.
“We’d been close so many times, and I was tired of being close,” Allen said.
Indiana snapped the longest streak of consecutive losses to top- 10 foes at 42, a skid that dated to a 31- 10 victory at Ohio State on Oct. 10, 1987.
Penix wasn’t at his best, finishing 19- for- 36 with 170 yards, one touchdown and three sacks. But he worked wonders when the Hoosiers needed him most.
Penn State’s Sean Clifford hooked up with Jahan Dotson on a 60- yard touchdown pass to give Penn State its first lead of the second half at 2120 with 2: 30 left in regulation.
Penn State sacked Penix on the next two plays and forced him to throw the ball away on the third and an incompletion on the fourth, taking the ball back on downs at the Indiana 14.
Allen called for the defense to give up the touchdown, hoping for one more possession, and Devyn Ford obliged with a TD run that gave Penn State a 28- 20 lead.
“We went through that situation this week,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “We went through that situation on the sideline. Obviously, we could have handled it better, and I could have handled it better.”
Rutgers 38, Michigan State 27
Isaih Pacheco ran for two firsthalf touchdowns, and Rutgers ( 1- 0) snapped a 21- game Big Ten losing streak, winning on the road in Greg Schiano’s first game back as the Scarlet Knights’ coach.
The Spartans ( 0- 1) turned the ball over seven times — four in the first half — and never led.
Receiver Jayden Reed, a Naperville Central grad, made his Michigan State debut after transferring from Western Michigan. He caught 11 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown but lost two fumbles.
Michigan 49, Minnesota 24
Joe Milton accounted for two touchdowns in his debut at quarterback for No. 18 Michigan ( 1- 0), and the Wolverines ran for 258 yards to win at No. 21 Minnesota ( 0- 1).
Zach Charbonnet had a 70- yard scoring run in the first quarter. Donovan Jeter followed by scoring on a 15- yard scoop of an airborne fumble forced by a blitzing Michael Barrett, one of five sacks by the Wolverines.
Ohio State 52, Nebraska 17
Justin Fields completed 20 of 21 passes for two touchdowns and ran for another, Master Teague III rushed for a pair of scores and No. 5 Ohio State ( 1- 0) rolled over visiting Nebraska ( 0- 1).
Fields completed his first 12 passes and threw for 276 yards. He ran for another 52.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he would text Nebraska coach Scott Frost to apologize for the last touchdown, which came on freshman quarterback Jack Miller III’s twoyard run with 18 seconds left and the Buckeyes leading by 28 points.
Purdue 24, Iowa 20
Sophomore receiver David Bell caught three touchdown passes, including the game- winner, to guide Purdue ( 1- 0) to a home victory over Iowa ( 0- 1).
With the Boilermakers’ top receiver, Rondale Moore, sideline for undisclosed reasons, Bell caught 13 passes for 121 yards. His differencemaker was a six- yard TD from Aidan O’Connell with 2: 15 left in the fourth quarter to give Purdue the lead.