BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) – Indiana coach Kevin Wilson wanted to see touchdowns Saturday.
Apparently, he’s still working on red-zone proficiency.
For the second straight week, the Hoosiers failed to score a touchdown in the first three quarters, then rallied late and fell short in a 16-10 loss to Penn State.
“We can’t put our defense consistently in those positions and expect them to hang in there because they battled for us today,” Wilson said. “We need the offense, and I’m an offensive guy, to hold the rope and pull their end of the bargain here.”
Indiana (1-4, 0-1 Big Ten) has lost two in a row and dropped to 0-15 all-time against Penn State.
And again, it was because of the Hoosiers’ inability to score touchdowns.
Dusty Kiel was solid in his first career start at quarterback, going 22 of 45 for 184 yards with one TD and one interception. The Hoosiers’ only TD came on a 5-yard pass from Kiel to Ted Bolser with 3:51 left.
Kiel also gave Indiana a chance to win the game in the closing seconds, but his desperation heave into the wind came up 5 yards short of the goal line and went through Damarlo Belcher’s hands anyway.
“He came and showed up and got off to a good start,” running back Steven Houston said of Kiel. “I was proud of him. He kept his composure. He had everybody in the right spots and he just made plays whenever he could.”
It wasn’t just Indiana struggling to score.
Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin watched agonizingly as Penn State squandered its scoring chances before taking matters into his own hands.
After he re-entered the game in the third quarter, McGloin made the right read and the perfect throw on his first play, hooking up with Derek Moye on a 74-yard TD pass that turned the game.
“They were pressing a lot, really challenging us to throw deep, so we sent Derek out on a go route and I let it fly and he ran under it,” McGloin said. “At times, we play extremely well. I think we just need to learn to be more consistent and stop with the penalties that we’ve been getting.”
For McGloin, it was a chance to shine on an otherwise bleak day for Penn State’s offense.
The Nittany Lions blew one scoring opportunity with an interception at the Indiana 1, another with a lost fumble at the Hoosiers 2 and two other potential chances when players recovered their own fumbles. In between, there were dropped passes, errant throws and unsettling penalties – a dangerous combination that nearly had Joe Paterno yanking out his hair again.
But just when things were looking bleak, McGloin re-emerged as a steadying influence.
He returned to the game with 1:41 left in the third quarter, and when Indiana’s safety bit inside on a curl route, Moye sprinted past the one-on-one coverage on the outside. Moye carefully cradled the pass in his arms and jogged the final 40 yards to make it 13-3.
“The corner was playing off, I had a double move, I faked the curl, he bit on it pretty hard and McGloin threw the perfect ball,” said Moye, who caught six passes for 158 yards.
McGloin was just getting started.
On Penn State’s next possession, he took the offense 63 yards in 13 plays, burning more than 5 1/2 minutes. Anthony Fera capped the drive with a 33-yard field goal, his third of the day, to make it 16-3 with 10:10 to play.
McGloin finished 10 of 22 for 204 yards with the touchdown and no interceptions, though it still may not be enough for the former Penn State starter to beat out Rob Bolden for his old job.
“I think both of them did a decent job. I don’t think either one of them played better today, but they both hung in there,” said Paterno, who spent the first half on the sideline and then moved upstairs at halftime for the second straight week. “I think we’ll go back home and take a good look at it. I think we’ll take a look at where we are and what we can do to get a little better.”
Both defenses were stingy.
Though the Nittany Lions had 241 yards and a 2-1 advantage in possession time during the first half, they only managed one score – a 22-yard field goal that tied the score at 3 with 2:57 to go.
Penn State finally took the lead after recovering a fumble at the Indiana 13 early in the third quarter. But after gaining only three yards, Fera made a 27-yard field goal to give Penn State a 6-3 lead.
Eleven minutes later, McGloin delivered the quick-hitting TD pass, followed that with the time-consuming drive and all the defense had to do was keep the struggling Hoosiers out of the end zone, twice.
No problem.
“Dusty played well,” Wilson said. “He needs his supporting cast to play better, but he also has some glitches and as he plays, he’ll keep coming along.”
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