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Hoosiers’ passing game should test Penn State

Five things to look for as Penn State faces one of the few pass-heavy teams in the Big Ten as Indiana pays a visit to Beaver Stadium.

No. 1: Secondary first

Hoosiers quarterback Richard Lagow will put pressure on the Nittany Lions with his strong arm, so the secondary will have to play well. Lagow had 292 yards passing, and Indiana had 344 total through the air in last year’s game, a 45-31 PSU win.

None of Penn State’s first four opponents had much of a passing attack, so this will be a different kind of test for the defensive backs. It’s the kind of game where injured cornerback John Reid could really be missed, and receiver Simmie Cobbs could be in for a big day.

The Hoosiers’ strategy undoubtedly will be to control time of possession and keep PSU’s offense off the field. They’ll try to run the ball — they had 282 yards rushing last week against Georgia Southern — but the bulk of first downs will have to come off Lagow’s arm.

No. 2: Red zone

Penn State had trouble finishing drives with touchdowns last week, so all of a sudden some people believe there’s cause for concern.

There’s not.

The Iowa game probably was more of an aberration than the start of a trend. Look for offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead to do a better job of getting into the right play inside the 10- and 5-yard lines, instead of some of the peculiar calls made last week.

Saquon Barkley is back there. He needs to get the ball inside the 10, or at the very least serve as a decoy to catch everyone off guard.

No. 3: Pick up pace

Indiana’s offense plays fast and likes to run a lot of plays, so the PSU defense will have to be ready. The Hoosiers ran 95 plays against Ohio State, although that one turned out to be a 49-21 loss.

While a lot of opponents will find themselves in trouble against a rapid-fire offense, the Lions typically don’t fall into that category. They rotate a lot of defensive players in and out, particularly up front, so fatigue usually doesn’t come into play.

If the game is close in the fourth quarter, PSU will have fresh linemen in there who still should be able to get some pressure on Lagow. Altoona’s Kevin Givens should be one of them, so he could be in on some big plays.

No. 4: Big numbers

Barkley could be in line for another very productive game from an all-purpose yardage standpoint.

Indiana likely will score 4-5 times, which means Barkley will get some opportunities to return kickoffs. If he gets to bring out a few of them, he could rack up close to 100 yards there alone. So if he has a good day running and catching the ball, 300 yards could be within reach once again.

It will take some very impressive numbers for Barkley to win the Heisman Trophy, and being able to return kickoffs will pad his totals in a big way. He leads the nation in all-purpose yards per game with 253.3.

No. 5: Players to watch

PSU: Again, Barkley is always the pick, so we’re going with someone less obvious each week. The offensive onus will be on spreading the wealth to other weapons in this game to keep Barkley from having to do it all, so let’s go with the receivers as a whole. I have a feeling DeAndre Thompkins will get a long TD catch.

Indiana: It’s a given that Lagow has to play well, but the Hoosiers’ front seven on defense needs to contain Barkley. If you think that’s impossible, well, it might be. But Indiana held him to 58 yards on 13 carries and 34 yards on two catches last year.

Prediction: Hoosiers cover the big spread, but PSU still wins comfortably, 36-23.

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