Indiana’s gamble pays off
2-point OT success defeats Penn State
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — 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 the Big Ten rivals’ first game of the delayed season,
After leading the Hoosiers on a touchdown drive in the final minute of regulation and scoring on a 2-point conversion to force overtime, Penix hooked up with Whop Philyor for 9-yard TD pass in overtime and dove into the pylon for the decisive 2-point conversion to give Indiana a 36-35 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. “We liked the call and stayed with the call (after Penn State called timeout) and stayed with the call. We felt like we had our three players involved in the play and one of those was going to get the ball or Michael was going to keep it. It felt like the right thing to do.”
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 — a game the late Earle Bruce dubbed as the darkest day in Buckeyes history.
It ended the second-longest active streak of losses to Top 10 opponents in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
It did it on a day Penix wasn’t at his best. He finished 19 of 36 with 170 yards, one TD and three sacks. But his magical feet worked wonders when the Hoosiers needed him most.
It took a lengthy replay review to confirm the initial call and when the official made the announcement Penix knew was coming, the wild celebration began inside the mostly empty stadium.
NO. 1 CLEMSON 47, SYRACUSE 21:
In Clemson, S.C., Trevor Lawrence threw two touchdown passes, Travis Etienne ran for three scores and Clemson (6-0) shook off a sluggish performance vs. the Orange (1-5, 1-4) to win its 27th straight ACC game.
But Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was unhappy with what he felt were too many “negative questions” from reporters after the Tigers, 46 ½ -point favorites, lead only 27-21 late in the third quarter.
Clemson made several mistakes that allowed Syracuse to hang around, including a blocked punt, missed field goal and a Tigers pass that was returned for an Orange touchdown.
“I just want to make sure I’m at the right press conference. We did win the game, I think,” Swinney said.
NO. 2 ALABAMA 48, TENNESSEE 17:
In Knoxville, Tenn., Mac Jones threw for 387 yards and ran for a touchdown, and Najee
Harris ran for three more scores to help Alabama (5-0) rout Tennessee (2-3) for its 14th straight win in the rivalry. But Crimson Tide wide receiver Jaylen Waddle broke his right ankle on the opening kickoff, and coach Nick Saban said it is a high ankle sprain with a fracture that probably will need surgery.
NO. 3 NOTRE DAME 45, PITT 3: In Pittsburgh, Ian Book passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns — two of them long catchand-runs to graduate transfer Ben Skowronek — and Notre Dame (5-0, 4-0 ACC) sent the Panthers (3-4, 2-4) to their fourth consecutive loss.
NO. 5 OHIO STATE 51, NEBRASKA 17: In
Columbus, Ohio, Justin Fields completed 20 of 21 passes for two touchdowns and ran for another score, Master Teague III rushed for a pair of scores and Ohio State rolled in the Big Ten teams’ pandemic-delayed opener.
NO. 6 OKLAHOMA STATE 24, NO. 17 IOWA STATE 21:
In Stillwater, Okla.,Spencer Sanders passed for 235 yards and ran for 71 and a touchdown in his return from injury and Oklahoma State 4-0, 3-0) joined Kansas State as the only remaining undefeated teams in Big 12 play. The Cyclones (3-2, 3-1) were seeking their first ever 4-0 Big 12 start.
NO. 9 CINCINNATI 42, NO. 16 SMU 13:
In Dallas, Desmond Ridder ran for 179 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 126 yards and a score to help Cincinnati beat SMU in a showdown of unbeaten teams.
Cincinnati (4-0, 2-0 American) played its first game since Oct. 3. The Bearcats had an open date.
NO. 11 MIAMI 19, VIRGINIA 14:
In Miami Gardens, Fla., D’Eriq King threw for 322 yards and a touchdown and Mike Harley had career bests of 10 catches for 170 yards as Miami (5-1, 4-1 ACC) outlasted Virginia.
NO. 14 NORTH CAROLINA 48, NO. 23 N.C. STATE 21:
In Chapel Hill, N.C., Javonte Williams ran for 160 yards and three touchdowns for the Tar Heels (4-1, 4-1 ACC) in a win over NCSU (4-2, 4-2).
NO. 18 MICHIGAN 49, NO. 21 MINNESOTA 24:
In Minneapolis, Joe Milton accounted for
two touchdowns in his debut at quarterback as Michigan trampled Minnesota with 258 rushing yards in their season opener.
WAKE FOREST 23, NO. 19 VIRGINIA TECH 16: In WinstonSalem, N.C., walk-on freshman safety Nick Andersen had three interceptions and Christian Beal-Smith ran for 129 yards to help Wake Forest (3-2, 2-2 ACC) beat Virginia Tech (3-2, 3-2).
NO. 20 KANSAS STATE 55, KANSAS 14:
In Manhattan, Kan., Phillip Brooks returned a pair of punts for touchdowns, Kansas State (4-1) took advantage of an embarrassing day of special teams by its biggest rival, and the Wildcats rolled past the Jayhawks (0-5, 0-4) for a seriesrecord 12th straight time.
NO. 22 MARSHALL 20, FLA. ATLANTIC 9:
In Huntingdon, W.Va., Brenden Knox rushed for 101 yards and caught one of redshirt freshman Grant Wells’ two touchdown passes to lead Marshall (5-0, 3-0 Conference USA) over pandemic-depleted Florida Atlantic (1-1, 1-1).
NO. 25 COASTAL CAR0LINA 28, GA. SOUTHERN 14:
In Conway, S.C., backup quarterback Fred Payton three touchdown passes and Coastal Carolina s (5-0, 3-0 Sun Belt) won its first game as a ranked team by edging Georgia Southern (3-2, 1-2).
CHARLOTTE 38, UTEP 28: In Charlotte, N.C., Chris Reynolds threw for two scores and Aaron McAllister ran for two touchdowns for Charlotte (2-2, 1-0 C-USA) beat UTEP (3-3, 0-2).
MWC BOISE STATE 42, UTAH STATE 13:
In Boise, Idaho, Hank Bachmeier threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns, George Holani rushed for 100 yards and a pair of touchdowns as Boise State defeated Utah State as the Mountain West Conference opened play.
NEVADA 37, WYOMING 34: In Reno, Nev., Carson Strong threw his fourth touchdown pass, a 9-yarder to Romeo Doubs in overtime, as Nevada beat Wyoming.
HAWAII 34, FRESNO STATE 19: In Fresno, Calif., Chevan Cordeiro and Calvin Turner each scored twice as Hawaii beat FSU.