STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — A return home to Beaver Stadium against an inferior opponent in Indiana was supposed to heal some of the fresh wounds gained after Penn State’s disappointing loss at Ohio State.
Instead, it raised a few more questions about the quality of their offense, especially first-year starting quarterback Drew Allar.
The sophomore had an uneven performance, tossing three touchdowns, as well as suffering his first interception of the season deep in Penn State territory, which allowed Indiana to tie the score 24-24.
Allar delivered on their next drive when he placed a perfectly thrown deep ball into the waiting hands of Keandre Lambert-Smith, who had a step on his defender.
The 57-yard connection, plus the point after, gave the Nittany Lions a 31-24 lead late in the fourth quarter.
A mad scramble for the football after a sack on the ensuing possession for the Hoosiers led to a safety when the ball rolled out of the end zone.
The extra two points made the final score 33-24, as Penn State improved to 7-1 on the season.
The Nittany Lions' sluggish start was aided by some Indiana special teams miscues to give them a short field to operate.
Allar finished 20 of 31 for 210 yards in the game, while additionally connecting with tight ends Khalil Dinkins and Theo Johnson for touchdown passes.
Penn State travels to Maryland next Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. game which can be watched on FOX43.