STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Omar Cooper Jr. jumped to catch a pass from Fernando Mendoza in the back of the end zone, sweeping his inside foot within the field of play to go ahead of Penn State 27-24 with 36 seconds remaining and save No. 2 Indiana from its first loss of the season on Saturday.
The downtrodden Nittany Lions, led by an interim coach and riding the school’s longest losing streak in 21 years, almost denied the Hoosiers (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) their first Happy Valley win in school history.
Penn State (3-6, 0-6) came back from down 13 points in the third quarter and was a couple of first downs away from the upset. Once the Nittany Lions were forced to punt, they couldn’t respond with late-game heroics of their own in the little time the Hoosiers left them. A Hail Mary effort from midfield was unsuccessful.
“It was the most improbable victory I have ever been a part of,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. “And there couldn’t have been a better place to make it happen.”
The Hoosiers entered Happy Valley used to losing in the sprawling, 107,000-seat Beaver Stadium. Before Saturday, the Nittany Lions owned a 25-2 edge head-to-head, winning all 13 games on their home field.
“It’s just a rocking crowd, when you hear that silence when you get hit when you throw, then you know it’s a completion,” said Mendoza, who was sacked three times, threw for 218 yards with one touchdown and an interception and also ran in a score.
Penn State rallied to take the lead 24-20 in the fourth quarter when Ethan Grunkemeyer connected with Nicholas Singleton for a 19-yard score with 6:27 to play.
Penn State punted to Indiana with 1:51 remaining, giving Mendoza the ball back at his own 20. He was sacked on first down, but recovered to hit receivers for 22, 12, 29 and 17 yards before finding Cooper at the back edge of the end zone. Afterward, a smiling Cooper called it the best catch of his career. Mendoza agreed.
Kaelon Black scored a rushing touchdown and Nico Radicic kicked two field goals for the Hoosiers. Charlie Becker had seven receptions for 118 yards and Cooper finished with six receptions for 32 yards.
Singleton added two rushing touchdowns for the Nittany Lions, who are playing under interim coach Terry Smith and have lost six in a row.
“It’s just very humbling,” Smith said. “I think back to Joe Paterno and him running on the field. I’m in the same position that he was and I have to do better for our guys. We have to taste victory because they deserve it.”
After a pair of stunted possessions to start the game, the Hoosiers easily zipped down the field on their third try when Mendoza hit Becker for a 53-yard pass down the middle. Mendoza scrambled through Penn State’s defense for an 18-yard touchdown two plays later.
Penn State tied it 7-7 with a 10-play, 67-yard drive that ended with a short scoring plunge by Singleton, but the Andy Kotelnicki-called offense didn’t get rolling until the fourth quarter and Indiana led 17-7 at halftime.
In and out
Although star wideout Elijah Sarratt didn’t play, the Hoosiers got linebacker Aiden Fisher back after he missed last week’s game with a knee injury.
Fisher played like he was making up for lost time. He made nine tackles and helped with two turnovers that foiled first-half Penn State possessions.
Fisher recovered a fumble forced by Jamari Sharpe in Penn State’s end that led to Black’s short touchdown run at the end of the first half. He intercepted Grunkemeyer on Penn State’s third play of the third quarter to position Radicic for his second field goal of the game.
Program milestone
With his final run of the first half, Penn State running back Kaytron Allen passed Evan Royster on Penn State’s career carries list. Royster, who played for Paterno from 2006-10, rushed 686 times for a program record 3,932 yards.
Following Saturday’s game, Allen has 697 carries for 3,613 yards with three games left.
