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Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from Week 8 win over Indiana

By Connor Muldowney

BLOOMINGTON, IN - OCTOBER 20: Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs the ball for a four-yard touchdown against the Indiana Hoosiers in the fourth quarter of the game at Memorial Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Bloomington, Indiana. Penn State won 33-28. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, IN - OCTOBER 20: Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions runs the ball for a four-yard touchdown against the Indiana Hoosiers in the fourth quarter of the game at Memorial Stadium on October 20, 2018 in Bloomington, Indiana. Penn State won 33-28. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Penn State football had a rough rebound game against Indiana in Bloomington, but the Nittany Lions snuck out with a slim win. What’d we learn?

For a second straight week, Penn State was on upset alert. The Nittany Lions traveled to Bloomington to take on an upset-hungry Indiana team and escaped with a 33-28 win.

Penn State hasn’t quite looked like the dominant team everyone expected at the beginning of the year and this was supposed to be a rebound game against a struggle Indiana squad. That didn’t happen as the Hoosiers put up a strong fight, nearly pulling off an incredible comeback in the final minutes.

The Nittany Lions extended their lead to 33-21 in the second half but Indiana made a late push, making it 33-28 with under a minute left and then recovering an onside kick. The Penn State defense stood strong, but there is plenty for this team to work on moving forward.

What’d we learn from Penn State’s sketchy win at Indiana?

3. Miles Sanders needs more touches

Many are wondering what happened to Penn State’s red-hot offense last week against Michigan State and yet again this week at Indiana. The Nittany Lions were known for putting up big points in the first five games of the year, but they were held to just 17 points in Week 7.

A quick fix would be getting Miles Sanders the ball more than 15-20 times per game. Sure, every running back has a shelf life and trying not to burn him out before the end of the season is important, but James Franklin has to utilize his tools — he did use Saquon Barkley more than enough throughout his career.

Sanders finished with 72 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, which is all fine and dandy, but the offense could have broken off a few more long runs with more touches for the junior back.

If this offense wants to get back on track, Sanders must average at least 20 carries per game, taking some pressure off Trace McSorley.

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