Indiana gets historic win over Penn State not seen since Reagan was president

Indiana football gets its biggest win as a program since the late 1980s.

Indiana football shocks No. 8 Penn State football in overtime by going for two.

The Indiana Hoosiers were thinking upset special since opening kickoff vs. the Penn State Nittany Lions. They needed a few turnovers defensively, as well as a bunch of missed field goals to even give them a shot. With Indiana down a point after scoring a touchdown in overtime, the Hoosiers went for two. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. converted one of the best two-point attempts ever.

The last time the Hoosiers beat a top-10 team, Ronald Reagan was President.

Indiana had not beaten a top-10 team since the Hoosiers defeated the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes back in 1987. They had lost 42 straight games vs. top-10 opponents. This was the longest active losing streak against top-10 teams in the Big Ten and the second-longest nationally. Only the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have had worse luck, as it has been 63 in a row for the Deacs.

For Indiana, this gives Tom Allen and his program all the momentum in the world. The Hoosiers just beat the biggest challenger in Big Ten play to Ohio State in an overtime thriller. Indiana could be one of the better teams in the Big Ten East after all. As for the Nittany Lions, they might fall to 0-2, as they host Ohio State in their home opener next week as considerable underdogs.

Some Penn Staters might argue Penix didn’t get the nose of the ball to cross the plane before it went out of bounds. However, the call on the field initially was that Penix converted on the two-point attempt. With it being that close, the officials needed irrefutable video evidence to overturn the call on the field. Let’s be real. It would have been brutal to take that away from Penix.

Indiana looks to move to 2-0 next week when the Hoosiers take on 1-0 Rutgers in Piscataway.

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