Indiana’s first-ever trip to Beaver Stadium in 1993 might have been their best chance to beat Penn State in the mammoth 100,000-plus seat venue.
Played 32 years ago to the day on Thursday, the game appeared to be over as PSU took a 31-17 lead into the fourth quarter. But IU quarterback John Paci connected with Thomas Lewis for a 99-yard touchdown to bring the Hoosiers within seven, and they weren’t finished rallying.
The Hoosiers were ranked higher than the home team that day and still had Rose Bowl aspirations. No. 15 IU was tied with the No. 17 Nittany Lions at 31 in fourth quarter before Kerry Collins threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Engram with 6:25 remaining in the game to seal the 38-31 victory for PSU.
The losses to Penn State, a new addition to the Big Ten in 1993, just kept adding up for decades.
But the Hoosiers did snap an overall 16-game losing streak to Penn State in 2013 when Nate Sudfeld passed for 321 yards and two touchdowns and the Hoosiers outscored PSU 23-7 in the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
But it would be 26 years before IU even kept the score within a single-digit final margin again at Beaver Stadium. That came in 2019 when Tom Allen led Indiana was within three in the fourth quarter but ended up falling 34-27.
Of course the Hoosiers would beat Penn State again in Bloomington the next year — the unforgettable 36-35 overtime thriller capped off by Michael Penix’s dive to the pylon for a game-clinching two-point conversion.
But the futility at University Park, State College, Happy Valley, or whatever you want to call it, has continued.
Indiana is now 0-13 all-time at Penn State, and their best chance to end the streak comes Saturday at Noon ET (FOX).
A Pennsylvania native, IU coach Curt Cignetti knows all about playing at Beaver Stadium. He was a backup quarterback on the 1981 West Virginia team that lost at No. 1 Penn State. He was on Temple and Pitt staffs that lost there routinely in the 90s.
“Tough place to play, 100,000 plus people,” Cignetti said Monday.
But this IU team will arrive at Penn State like no other Hoosier squad before them.
Ranked No. 2, and already owning top-20 road wins at Iowa and Oregon, this Indiana outfit is actually a double-digit favorite Saturday.
The opportunity to end a generational run of futility at Beaver Stadium is there for the taking. Penn State is just 3-5 on the season and 0-5 in the Big Ten.
But Indiana won’t be fooled.
Penn State was the preseason No. 2 team, and whatever their flaws, the Nittany Lions are loaded with talent. And Indiana? They are in this position precisely because of their unique ability to block out this very kind of outside noise.
What would it mean to end the 13-game losing streak?
Don’t know. Don’t care.
“We need to worry about taking care of business because it’s going to be a huge challenge for us,” IU center Pat Coogan said. “Obviously, everyone knows how challenging playing at their stadium is, so we got to prepare for it, and we got to be ready for it. It’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
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