Penn State @ Indiana preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 10, 2015 ) Indiana 7, Penn State 29

Winners of five straight and surging in the polls, No. 14 Penn State and its high-flying offense visit Indiana this week in a game that will certainly light up the scoreboard. In the last two weeks, the Nittany Lions have combined for 100 points in consecutive games for the first time in conference play since 2002, but the Hoosiers have been just as impressive with the ball the past two weeks, accumulating over 1,200 yards in posting victories over Maryland and Rutgers.

Penn State sophomore running back Saquan Barkley’s recent production (675 yards in the past four games for an 8.3 yards-per-carry average) has him on the outskirts of the Heisman Trophy race and the Lions sitting at No. 10 in the College Football Playoff rankings, although sophomore quarterback Trace McSorley has also played well and valued the ball to the tune of no offensive turnovers in the past three weeks. "Our preparation has stepped up each and every week,” McSorley told reporters this week. "That's something we've really taken ahold of as an offensive unit and continued to progress on a lot.” Penn State’s pass defense ranks fourth in the Big Ten in pass defense (197.8) and averages three sacks per game to rank second. Indiana has the third-ranked offense (468.8 yards per game) in the conference and averages 298.1 yards passing behind Richard Lagow, who ranks second in the Big Ten with 2,574 passing yards.

TV: Noon ET, ABC/ESPN2. LINE: Penn State -7.

ABOUT PENN STATE (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten): Barkley (conference-leading 1,055 yards rushing, 13 total touchdowns), rushed for 167 yards and scored twice last week in the 41-14 win over Iowa. McSorley (55.6 completion percentage, 14 TDs, three interceptions) is second in the Big Ten in yards per attempt (8.5) and interception percentage (1.2) and has found a new deep threat in Saeed Blacknall, who has three catches for 96 yards in the last three weeks. Led by a revitalized and deep front seven, the Lions have yielded a combined 76 yards rushing the past two weeks, marking the first time Penn State had ever held back-to-back Big Ten opponents to fewer than 50 yards rushing.

ABOUT INDIANA (5-4, 3-3): Lagow, a 6-6 junior, passed for 394 yards and three TDs in last week’s 33-27 victory over Rutgers but also threw two of his 13 interceptions on the season. Wide receivers Nick Westbrook (78.7 yards per game) and Ricky Jones (75.7) rank in the top five in the Big Ten, while Devine Redding is sixth in the league with 793 rushing yards - good for a 4.8 average. Linebacker Tegray Scales ranks second in FBS with 7.1 solo tackles per game, defensive back Rashard Fant leads the country with 1.8 passes defended per game and linebacker Marcus Oliver ranks tied for fifth in FBS with 0.44 forced fumbles per game.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Penn State leads the all-time series 18-1, including a 29-7 win last year without an injured Barkley.

2. Indiana is holding opponents to 390.1 total yards per game, an improvement of 119.4 from last season, the second-largest improvement in the country.

3. With their seventh win of the season last week, the Lions currently have 12 straight winning seasons, joining Wisconsin, Virginia Tech, Boise State and Oklahoma as the only other schools with active streaks that long.

PREDICTION: Penn State 45, Indiana 34