It's Penn State-Indiana week: Time, TV, kickoff info, early storylines, and more

Penn State football returns to the field on Saturday when it takes on Indiana. The Nittany Lions are an enormous favorite ahead of the game. It kicks off a four-game November stretch that will take head coach James Franklin’s team to the end of the regular season. A 10-win season is in the cards of Penn State wins out, which it will be favored to do.

The Hoosiers are coming off of their bye week. The Lions, meanwhile, will look to bounce back after a 44-31 loss to Ohio State.

“First of all, you have to give Ohio State credit,” Franklin said back on Saturday night. “They’re a really talented team. I thought we played our tail off. In the first half, we were able to overcome the turnovers and stay in the game and battle. But you can’t turn the ball over that many times against that type of opponent and think you’re going to be successful. That is something we, for the most part, we have done a good job of this year, but we did not today.

“I thought we played hard and did some really, really good things. There’s a ton of stuff to be proud of, but there’s just as much stuff that we have to correct tomorrow. There’s a lot of corrections that we obviously have to make. But, to me, the game starts and ends with the turnovers. You can’t give that type of team a short field that many times and be successful. It’s going to make it really challenging.”

Get ready for kickoff with our early preview.

Time and TV info

It’s November, which means many Big Ten games are being subjected to the six-day television schedule window. This was one of them. Late Saturday night, both schools and the Big Ten Conference announced that kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ABC will televise the game regionally. The broadcast crew is not yet known.

This is the third time Penn State is on ABC in 2022.

What is the Penn State-Indiana spread?

Oddsmakers opened the Lions as a 13-point favorite. Some places are now showing 13.5. By kickoff, Penn State will likely be a two-touchdown favorite.

Game week schedule for Penn State

Everything should be status quo for Penn State to have a regular media schedule this week.

Tuesday will see player interviews and a lengthy news conference with Franklin at lunchtime. On Wednesday, more player calls will take place in addition to a chance to watch practice plus another opportunity to interview Franklin and a player.

Thursday brings the Penn State Coaches Show, which Franklin typically appears on for the last half hour, and that will be it for the week until Saturday after the game.

What’s up with Indiana?

The Hoosers are in the midst of a massive losing streak. After starting the season 3-0, head coach Tom Allen’s team has lost five consecutive games. Its latest loss came two weeks ago when Rutgers scored a 24-17 victory in Piscataway.

“The second drive we drove down, after the penalty the game was really tough,” Allen said.

“My guys stepped up and played the best game they could play. We got to capitalize on first downs and maximize the tempo. Got to do the best we can on the chances they give us.”

A quarterback change is possible. Starter Connor Bazelak has struggled in recent weeks. The backup is Jack Tuttle. He will transfer after the season but continues to be with the team until then.

“We’ll look at every possible option, no question,” Allen told reporters. “We have to improve at quarterback. We wanted a different outcome today and we’ll have to evaluate that during the bye week.”

Weather outlook

Good but windy conditions are expected in Bloomington. In fact, it is forecasted to be an unseasonably warm day. Weather.com writes “Considerable cloudiness. High 73F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.” Rain is expected at night. However, it should start after the final whistle, according to current projections.

Early Penn State-Indiana storylines

–How many healthy offensive linemen will Penn State travel? The Lions suddenly have a major issue there after Olu Fashanu was hurt late against the Buckeyes while Caedan Wallace and Landon Tengwall did not play.

–Will the Lions make a concerted effort to get freshman Drew Allar more snaps? The quarterback is taking over next season. The next four weeks, plus the bowl game, are a massive opportunity to give him real-time reps before then. How will James Franklin and Mike Yurcich handle it?

–On the other side, what will Indiana do at quarterback? We’re not expecting a change at this moment. But, it is certainly a possibility.

–Penn State won following its last loss. But, as has been endlessly noted, bouncing back has been a problem before. Will it be this week? We doubt it. But, that is something that will be discussed throughout the week.