Penn State football: 3 takeaways from thrilling overtime loss at Indiana

2. Penn State special teams unit has work to do

Let’s address yet another sector of this Penn State team that warranted a resounding “yikes”: special teams. In the first half, a muffed punt happened during a fair catch by Penn State. Yes, a fair catch. This happened as a result of a collision between two Nittany Lions, causing the ball to come loose. Luckily for them, the Indiana player who recovered stepped out of bounds prior to securing the ball.

PSU’s return game also looked very questionable at times. Some of the decisions made just made me scratch my head. One in particular pinned them near their own five yard line, almost leading to a safety being given up. This pattern often undermined the offensive attack, inheriting poor field position much of the day.

Another area where this team clearly struggled within the special teams department was the kicking game. Despite typically being a go-to guy, kicker Jake Pinager had a rough day to say the least. Due to an untimely Indiana fumble seconds before halftime, Penn State had an opportunity to cut the lead to single digits. This went down the drain when Pinager’s 25 yard attempt nailed the left upright.

The special teams unit almost redeemed itself when Jordan Stout almost hit a 57 yard field goal for the win. While he may not have made the kick, he may have secured the starting job down the road.