Penn State football (3-6, 0-6 Big Ten) fell to No. 2 Indiana (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) 27-24 at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Despite a valiant effort by the Nittany Lions, complete with three Nick Singleton touchdowns and Ethan Grunkemeyer’s best performance yet, Penn State still couldn’t squeeze out the surprise victory against the Indiana Hoosiers. Indiana won its first-ever game at Beaver Stadium behind Omar Cooper Jr.’s go-ahead toe-tap touchdown in the final minute. Thehe Nittany Lions still seek their first Big Ten win of 2025.

How It Happened

Penn State won the coin toss and deferred. Indiana running back Roman Hemby picked up eight yards on the Hoosiers’ first play from scrimmage. Dom DeLuca plugged the gap on second down to force a loss of one yard. Indiana called its first timeout before running only its third play of the game.

Fernando Mendoza fired a pass off to Hemby on third down with pressure coming around the edge by Dani Dennis-Sutton, but Penn State forced the three-and-out.

Trebor Peña took Indiana’s punt return 16 yards to bring more energy to the Beaver Stadium crowd. Kaytron Allen rushed four yards on his first carry of the game. Ethan Grunkemeyer completed a pass to Peña before Allen picked up a fresh set of downs on the ground.

Allen ran three more times as Penn State entered Indiana territory. Penn State ran into a 3rd-and-12, and Grunkemeyer missed Devonte Ross over the middle to force the Gabe Nwosu punt.

Hemby started Indiana’s subsequent possession with another 8-yard run, trucking Zion Tracy in the process. DeLuca made another big backfield tackle on second down to force a 3-yard loss. On 3rd-and-5, Mendoza took it up the middle for 12 yards.

Penn State forced an incompletion on 3rd-and-4, but Xavier Gilliam went down on the play. He jogged off the field under his own power. Indiana punter Mitch McCarthy shanked the punt to set Penn State up at its own 26-yard line.

Allen hurdled a Hoosier for four yards on first down. Indiana linebacker Rolijah Hardy easily sacked Grunkemeyer on third down.

Mendoza took the top off the Penn State defense with a 53-yard pass to Charlie Becker down to Penn State’s 15-yard line. Amare Campbell and Zuriah Fisher wrapped up Hemby for another loss in the backfield on first down. Mendoza rushed for an 18-yard touchdown on 2nd-and-13.

Nick Singleton rattled off a solid 33-yard kick return to Penn State’s own 33-yard line. Grunkemeyer put a Hoosier defender on skates for a 6-yard pickup on first down. Grunkemeyer tossed a screen pass to Peña to set up 4th-and-1 on the final play of the first frame.

Grunkemeyer found Andrew Rappleyea in the flat for the first down. He went back to the play-action with another toss to the flat, this time to Khalil Dinkins. Indiana almost snuffed out a toss to Singleton, but the running back kept the ball in his arms. Penn State lost six yards on the play.

Grunkemeyer rifled a pass to Peña on 3rd-and-10, and Peña racked up the yards after catch for a 43-yard gain to Indiana’s 13-yard line. Singleton almost rattled free for the score on first down, but the Hoosiers wrapped him up by the ankles at the last second. He picked up a first down on the next play before pushing his way into the end zone for Penn State’s first score.

Singleton gets the score pic.twitter.com/yPbEIYJ5Ll

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 8, 2025

Kaelon Black picked up a first down for the Hoosiers before Fisher forced a loss of one. Penn State pressured Mendoza again on second down, but the quarterback scrambled up the middle for a gain of seven. On 3rd-and-4, Dennis-Sutton got home and sacked Mendoza. Officials called a 10-yard holding penalty, negating the sack.

Penn State kept the foot on the gas. Omar Cooper lost four yards on first down before Hemby gained eight back to set up 3rd-and-6. Black pushed through for a fresh set of downs.

Mendoza found tight end Riley Nowakowski over the middle for a 15-yard gain as Indiana entered the red zone. Mendoza targeted Cooper in the end zone, but Tracy forced an incompletion. Zane Durant and Alonzo Ford Jr. wrapped Mendoza with pressure once more, but he scrambled out and tossed it to a receiver for 1st-and-goal.

Daryus Dixson brought Mendoza down hard in the backfield on second down, pushing the Hoosiers back to Penn State’s 12-yard line. Mendoza recovered his own fumble on the play.

Indiana false started coming out of the timeout. The Hoosiers gained seven yards back, but ultimately settled for three points with 2:30 left in the first half.

Allen fumbled on third down. Indiana took over at Penn State’s 22-yard line with a chance to add to its lead at the end of the half.

Officials got King Mack with a pass interference call before Mendoza and Becker brought the Hoosiers down to the 1-yard line. Black punched it in for six on the next play for the final score of the first half.

Grunkemeyer took a deep shot to Ross on the opening play of the second half, but it was broken up. His next pass over the middle to Kyron Hudson was intercepted by Jamari Sharpe.

Penn State forced a 4th-and-1 on the Hoosiers, but Khobie Martin picked up the first down despite protests from the Nittany Lion defense. Durant hurried Mendoza again, who threw the ball out of bounds. On 3rd-and-9, Tracy wrapped up Cooper from behind in open field for no gain. Nico Radicic booted in three more points for the Hoosiers as they claimed a 20-7 lead with 8:41 remaining in the third quarter.

Grunkemeyer finally connected with Hudson for a 9-yard pickup on second down. He shoveled a pass to Allen up the middle for a first down. Grunkemeyer faked a handoff and picked out Peña for a 21-yard pickup. After a failed screen to Singleton, he dropped it in the bucket for Koby Howard for a gain of 22.

From Indiana’s 25-yard line, Grunkemeyer found Howard once more for six yards. He missed Ross underneath again, killing the drive and forcing a 36-yard field goal from Ryan Barker.

Mendoza somehow escaped pressure and threw the ball away on the first play of Indiana’s next drive. He had pressure from inside and off the edge. Penn State forced a 3rd-and-7, where Mendoza was his as he threw. The ball still found its way into Becker’s arms for a first down with Audavion Collins in coverage.

Penn State stopped a quick halfback draw from Black on the final play of the third quarter. Indiana led 20-10.

Collins redeemed himself in coverage with a stop on a deep shot down the sideline to force an Indiana punt. Officials called a delay of game on the Hoosiers. Peña fair caught the punt at Penn State’s own 15-yard line.

Grunkemeyer sliced another deep cross to Peña for a 20-yard gain. Singleton ripped a 59-yard run on 2nd-and-6 to bring Penn State down to Indiana’s 2-yard line. He punched it in for the score on 2nd-and-goal.

Nick the Quick is BACK pic.twitter.com/wu8CT2V77o

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 8, 2025

Mack picked off Mendoza on the sideline on 2nd-and-8. Penn State retook possession at Indiana’s 44-yard line.

Allen rushed for a tough first down before Rappleyea picked up nine yards as Penn State pushed deeper into Indiana territory. Allen pounded it twice more before a false start on Dinkins. On 2nd-and-8 from Indiana’s 19-yard line, Grunkemeyer tossed it to Singleton in the flat, who weaved in and out of the Hoosier defense for the score. Penn State took the 24-20 lead with just under six and a half minutes remaining in the contest.

Nick CAN'T be stopped pic.twitter.com/mR31i56q36

— Onward State (@OnwardState) November 8, 2025

Dennis-Sutton sacked Mendoza on second down to force 3rd-and-11. Indiana suffered a delay of game penalty, and Alex Tatsch forced the incompletion on 3rd-and-16. The Hoosiers punted it back to Penn State.

Penn State couldn’t pick up the game-ending first down after Indiana burned all of its timeouts before the two-minute warning. Indiana took over with no timeouts and under two minutes left.

Durant sacked Mendoza to open the drive. Yet, Indiana drove 80 yards and scored behind an unbelievable toe-tap touchdown by Cooper in the back of the end zone. Officials upheld the call after review.

Penn State couldn’t convert the Hail Mary at the end of the game.

Takeaways

• Nick Singleton easily had his best game of the season. He finally ripped off his first long run in what feels like ages with his 59-yard dash in the fourth quarter. Singleton scored two rushing touchdowns and outrushed Kaytron Allen by 23 yards. He also made an impact through the air, most notably with his go-ahead 19-yard score in the final frame. Nick the Quick looked like his old self.
• Penn State’s pass rush was relentless on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Zane Durant, Zuriah Fisher, Amare Campbell, and Dani Dennis-Sutton constantly pressured Mendoza in the pocket. Dejuan Lane and Audavion Collins helped create pressure from the outside. There were multiple instances where Mendoza had to throw the ball away to not take a sack. Penn State finished with three sacks, six quarterback hurries, and eight tackles-for-loss.
• Ethan Grunkemeyer looked poised and confident in the pocket even despite some easy missed throws to Devonte Ross. He clicked with Trebor Peña six times for 99 yards on the day. Despite the loss, Grunkemeyer’s performance against the Hoosiers definitely gets some conversations started in regards to Allar’s permanent replacement come next year.

What’s Next?

Penn State hits the road once more to face Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. on November 15 at Spartan Stadium. The game will air on either CBS or the Big Ten Network.