3 Things We Learned About the Penn State Nittany Lions in Week 9

The Penn State Nittany Lions returned to the field after a 20-12 loss to Ohio State and faced a scare against the lowly Indiana Hoosiers, surviving 33-24 in a game that could have easily been a loss.

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There was an apparent hangover after the loss to Ohio State last weekend. Penn State let up touchdown passes of 90 and 69 yards in the first half and was staring a late fourth-quarter deficit in the face when IU picked off a pass with 5:02 left at the PSU 21-yard line. Penn State held IU to a field goal and hit a 57-yard touchdown pass to take the lead for good. A nooner against Indiana was not a great hangover cure, as there were thousands of empty seats throughout the game.

Boos rained down from the Penn State faithful as the offense was conservative against Indiana. Fans are tired of James Franklin and believe they have reached their ceiling with him as the coach. Franklin is 85-37 at Penn State, but the issue falls with his 4-15 record against Michigan and Ohio State.

Drew Allar looked uncomfortable for most of the game against the Hoosiers and threw a late interception that could have given IU the lead. While he finished the game 20-of-31 in passing, he hesitated to take shots downfield until necessary. If Penn State is to stay in the race for a Big Ten East title, Allar has to live up to the hype he brought when he was signed out of high school.

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