This date in IU football history: Hoosiers’ first ever win over Penn State

October 5, 2013 — Bloomington, Ind.

IU was 0-for-the-series against Penn State.  0-16.

But under head coach Kevin Wilson, by 2013 the Hoosiers were turning a corner.

And in a Big Ten opener on Oct. 5, 2013, the Hoosiers kicked down a barrier with a convincing 44-24 win over the Nittany Lions.

Indiana scored first when Nate Sudfeld found Isaiah Roundtree for a 5-yard touchdown connection with 3:05 left in the opening period. A pair of field goals by Mitch Ewald gave IU a 13-7 halftime advantage.

Penn State took its first lead of the game, 14-13, on a 26-yard TD pass from Christian Hackenberg to Allen Robinson early in the third quarter.

At that point the game had that “here we go again” feel to it.  Especially in this series.

But it was all IU from there.

Tevin Coleman put the Hoosiers in front for good with a 44-yard touchdown scamper, and Tre Roberson converted the two-point conversion to make it 21-14.  Coleman ran 20 times for 92 yards and added 7 catches for 55 more yards.

Roberson then added a 2-yard TD run early in the fourth, and after Penn State failed on fourth-and-2 from its own 33, Kofi Hughes made a catch for a 36-yard TD and a 35-17 lead.  It was all part of a 23-7 fourth quarter that saw IU put away the Nittany Lions and finally claim a win in the series.

“We have to win games like this,” Wilson said after the game.  “We are trying to build a program that is competitive in this league. Penn State is one of the dominant programs in the Big Ten and they are one of the standards you want to set your team to, so it was nice to go toe-to-toe with them today and come away with the win.”

Sudfeld threw two touchdown passes and Roberson ran for two more scores.  Sudfeld finished 23-of-38 for 321 yards.

You can watch a condensed 20-minute version of the game below.

For more IU football classics, GO HERE.

Video credit – Big Ten Network

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