The Big Ten conference season starts off with a big game for Penn State, as they will travel to Indiana to play the Hoosiers and with the Nittany Lions 3-1 on the season, they will be ready to play at Memorial Stadium at 12 noon to try and get their fourth win of the year and the game will be on the Big Ten Network.
The Nittany Lions are still dealing with the sanctions and penalties from their scandal, but players like Christian Hackenberg have made it easier to deal with, as he has been excellent this season at quarterback, passing for over 1,000 yards and adding five touchdowns this season already. The team opened the year with a nice win against Syracuse before playing against Eastern Michigan and dominating 45-7, but then the team slipped up against UCF, losing a close contest to the Knights 34-31. The team won 34-0 against Kent State and now they will play their first real away game against Indiana.
Hackenberg threw for 176 yards past season and now the team will play two of the next three games on the road, with a matchup next week against number 19 Michigan before playing on the road against the Buckeyes in what could be a huge upset or a lopsided loss. The team has those two very tough games before playing Illinois at home and then the team will play on the road against Minnesota. The Nittany Lions have Purdue at home and then they play a tough game against Nebraska at home as well before travelling to play Wisconsin for the final matchup of the season.
Head coach Bill O'Brien has done a good job with the team since he took over for Joe Paterno and now he will be trying to improve to 4-1 this season with a win over Indiana. The Nittany Lions are gaining over 400 total yards per game and are ranked 52nd in the nation in scoring with over 30 points per game, while the defense has been excellent, averaging just 14 points per game to rank 13th in the nation. Hackenberg had his best game against Eastern Michigan, passing for a season high 311 yards and now he will face a Hoosiers team that is coming off of a tough defeat against Missouri.
The team will next play against Michigan State in a game on ESPN and that comes after the team opened with a big win against Indiana State before losing to Navy. The team defeated Bowling Green and after the Spartans game next week they will play on the road against number 19 Michigan and then the team will be home against Minnesota. The Hoosiers have a game at home against Illinois and then have two very tough road matchups with Ohio State and Wisconsin in consecutive weeks and then they will finish the year against Purdue.
The Penn State game will be on the Big Ten Network on Saturday at 12 pm noon and will be streaming live on the main website.
