Indiana stuns Penn State in OT
Michael Penix forced overtime with a two-point conversion run with 22 seconds left, then scored on a diving two-point conversion to give Indiana a seasonopening 36-35 upset victory over No. 8 Penn State — ending the Big Ten’s longest streak of consecutive losses to Top 10 teams at 42.
The winning play went to a replay review before the officials announced the initial call stood.
The Hoosiers beat the Nittany Lions for the second time in 24 matchups, and beat a Top 10 foe for the first time since a 31-10 victory at Ohio State on Oct. 10, 1987.
And it took every trick in the book to get it done as the Big Ten opened a season delayed by the pandemic.
“All I’d seen was an opportunity, an opportunity to go out and show the world what the Indiana Hoosiers are all about,” Penix said.
“They were playing man, so we’ve got to score to win the game and I wasn’t going to let my team down, so I went out and gave it my all.”
After Indiana failed to gain a first down after Sean Clifford’s go-ahead 60-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson with 2:30 left, coach Tom Allen instructed his defense to let Penn State score.
Devyn Ford obliged with a 14-yard run with 1:42 to go. Penix then took the Hoosiers down the field, scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds to go, added the two-point conversion and eventually wound up in overtime after Jordan Stout’s 57-yard fieldgoal attempt came up short with three seconds left in regulation.
“In really six years at Penn State and 10 years of being a head coach, we’ve not been a team to commit penalties and we’ve not been a team to get turnovers, and tonight we had both,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “You can’t not play well on the road in the Big Ten against good opponents.”
Penn State made it 35-28 when Clifford hooked up with Parker Washington in overtime, but Whop Philyor caught a nine-yard touchdown pass for the Hoosiers and Penix won it when he dove for the goal line and the ball hit the pylon.
at No. 5 Ohio State 52, Nebraska 17:
Justin Fields completed 20 of 21 passes for two touchdowns and ran for another score, Master Teague III rushed for two scores and the Buckeyes rolled over the Cornhuskers.
Rutgers 38, at Michigan State 27:
Isaih Pacheco ran for two first-half touchdowns, and the Scarlet Knights snapped a 21-game Big Ten losing streak, beating the Spartans in coach Greg Schiano’s first game back with Rutgers. New Michigan State coach Mel Tucker’s debut was forgettable as his team turned the ball over seven times.
No. 18 Michigan 49, at No. 21 Minnesota 24:
Joe Milton accounted for two touchdowns in an unflappable debut at quarterback for the Wolverines, who trampled the Golden Gophers with 256 yards rushing, as paced by Hassan Haskins’ 82 yards and two touchdowns.
at Purdue 24, Iowa 20:
Sophomore receiver David Bell caught three touchdown passes, including the game winner, to guide the Boilermakers past the Hawkeyes. With Purdue’s top receiver Rondale Moore sidelined for undisclosed reasons, Bell caught 13 passes for 121 yards.
at Northwestern 43, Maryland 3: Peyton Ramsey threw for 212 yards in his Wildcats debut, Drake Anderson ran for 103 and coach Pat Fitzgerald earned his 100th victory in the rout.