STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Indiana receiver 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 put the second-ranked Hoosiers ahead of Penn State 27-24 with 36 seconds remaining in Saturday’s Big Ten matchup at Beaver Stadium.
The lead held up and spared Indiana what would have been its first first loss of the season.
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) the program’s first-ever win in Happy Valley.
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 from midfield was unsuccessful.
“It was the most improbable victory I have ever been a part of,” Indiana second-year head coach Curt Cignetti said. “And there couldn’t have been a better place to make it happen.”