For a while on Saturday afternoon, it appeared as the Penn State Nittany Lions and Indiana Hoosiers were going to replicate the ugly game the two teams played last year in Bloomington.
However, Penn State junior quarterback Christian Hackenberg and offensive coordinator John Donovan, who's been on the hot seat lately, had other ideas.
Hackenberg scored all four of Penn State's touchdowns on Saturday afternoon leading the Nittany Lions to a big 29-7 victory to improve Penn State's record to 5-1 going into next weekend's primetime clash with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
The junior quarterback completed 21-of-38 pass attempts on Saturday for 262 yards and two scores.
While his consistency wasn't fully there on Saturday, Hackenberg showed his promise as a future NFL quarterback several times including on two separate 39-yard TD passes.
The first four drives of the game featured a combined 53 yards between the first two drives before Penn State's offense began to open itself up.
After two incomplete passes and a sack that was negated by an Indiana personal foul, Hackenberg completed a 10-yard pass to running back Nick Scott before finding freshman wide receiver Brandon Polk after a fake handoff on a reverse for a 39-yard touchdown that gave Penn State a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Immediately following Penn State's scoring drive, Indiana found the back of the endzone for the first and only time on Saturday as second string quarterback Zander Diamont used a combination of his arm and legs to march the Hoosiers 65 yards on eight plays to tie the game.
From that point on, Penn State's defense gave the Indiana offense fits throughout the game, allowing just 169 yards after the Hoosiers touchdown in the first quarter.
The two offenses would take turns sputtering throughout the next few drives that included a combined four punts and a Penn State fumble. But after a 28-yard run by Mark Allen and a 14-yard completion to Chris Godwin, Hackenberg found wideout DaeSean Hamilton down the field for a 39-yard touchdown reception. A missed extra point by Joey Julius would give the Nittany Lions just a six point lead.
Penn State's next drive would also end with a touchdown but not in a way that Penn State's fans are familiar with, as Christian Hackenberg used his legs several times on the drive that ultimately ended with Hackenberg rolling out on a boot leg and finding the endzone untouched to make it a two score game. However, a second straight miss by Joey Julius gave the Nittany Lions just a 12-point lead as they headed into halftime.
The third quarter was an ugly one as neither offense could really get the ball moving. While Indiana did gain over 100 yards of offense in the third quarter, they failed to convert on any third downs and were shutout in the third quarter for the second consecutive time this season.
In their first drive of the fourth quarter, the Penn State offense decided to put the game away as Hackenberg finally found tight end Kyle Carter several times on the drive after passing up a touchdown pass to the fifth year senior earlier in the game on Hackenberg's first touchdown run.
Hackenberg, however, ended the drive the same way he ended the last Penn State scoring drive as he used some shake-n-bake as well as a superman dive into the endzone to give the the Nittany Lions a 26-7 lead as new kicker Tyler Davis kicked home the extra point.
Penn State would later add on a field-goal late in the game to make it a 29-7 game as they continued to shut down the Indiana offense that was plagued by injuries coming into the game and throughout the game.
Penn State's 29-7 victory could've been a much bigger victory as the Nittany Lions early on failed to capitalize on several plays. A 22-point victory without their star freshman running back Saquon Barkley is definitely a solid indication of the depth and true talent that Penn State does have even when not clicking on all cylinders. With Barkley potentially returning next week, the Nittany Lions will potentially be Ohio State's toughest matchup of the season so far and should definitely give the Buckeyes a run for their money.
For Indiana, the Hoosiers dropped their second straight game after starting the season 4-0. After last weekends near upset of Ohio State, Saturday's lost to Penn State is a big disappointment for the program as well for Hoosier fans. If the Hoosiers are going to bounce back next week against Rutgers, they'll need quarterback Nate Sudfield and running back Jordan Howard to be ready for next weekend.