STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Omar Cooper Jr. jumped to catch a go from Fernando Mendoza at the back of the top zone, sweeping his inside foot throughout the discipline of play to save lots of No. 2 Indiana from its first lack of the season Saturday in opposition to a downtrodden Penn State workforce that just about denied the Hoosiers their first Blissful Valley win in class historical past.
Mendoza related with the leaping Cooper with 36 seconds remaining to place Indiana (10-0, 7-0 Huge Ten) forward 27-24.
Penn State (3-6, 0-6) rallied to take the lead 24-20 late within the fourth quarter after being down by 13 factors within the third. Ethan Grunkemeyer related with Nicholas Singleton for a 19-yard rating.
The Nittany Lions weren’t in a position to put collectively a last-second rating following Cooper’s landing, with the sport ending on a failed Hail Mary try.
Mendoza threw for 218 yards, one landing, an interception and likewise ran for a rating. Kaelon Black scored a speeding landing and Nico Radicic kicked two discipline targets for the Hoosiers. Charlie Becker had seven receptions for 118 yards and Cooper completed with six receptions for 32 yards.
Singleton ran for 2 scores along with the go-ahead landing go for the Nittany Lions, who’re taking part in underneath interim coach Terry Smith and have misplaced six in a row for the primary time in 21 years.