VOLUME 78 ISSUE 6 Penn State vs. Indiana October 12, 2015

The Letter After patiently doing its penance through three Saturdays of heavy Follow us on Twitter rain, Penn State was finally and rewarded by the weather gods Check out the new with perfect sunny, warm, Football Letter Blog colorful fall weather for Homecoming Weekend. PSU 7 12 0 10 ­ 29 Early returning alums were INDIANA 7 0 0 0 ­ 7 scared by a shower that dampened the Ice Cream Social CONTENTS on the Hintz Family Alumni Center lawn and messed up a few student floats Friday afternoon. But The Letter the skies cleared before the world’s largest Homecoming Parade Notes from the Cuff stepped off at 6 p.m. to thrill the thousands who lined its route through Other Sports campus and downtown State College. News of Note Game Photos Grand Marshal alumnus and comedian Keegan­Michael Key had earlier Statistics in the day pumped up the football team by appearing at their meeting and imitating his look­a­like, Coach James Franklin, until the players were rolling in the aisles. And the Nittany Lions followed up Saturday with a crisp but loose performance against the Indiana Hoosiers that pleased the alumni while improving State’s Homecoming record to 69–22–5, including victories in nine of its last 11 on Old Grads’ day. PAST ISSUES Quarterback Christian Hackenberg used his legs for two touchdowns View past issues and his arm for two more, and the Lion defense stuffed the league’s leading offense for a 29–7 triumph. FAN ZONE The players sang the alma mater with the students, rang the Victory Football Schedule Bell, and alumni headed two blocks west in search of the Happy Happy Team Roster Joy Joy flavor, where the nation’s No. 1 collegiate creamery is GoPSUSports.com celebrating its 150th anniversary. Radio/TV Listings Big Ten Football TV Schedule Big Ten Standings Big Ten Schedule and Results Penn Staters in the Pros

For advertising info, contact: Penn State’s two leading ground­ Angelo Scialfa 609­259­1910 gainers, Saquon Barkley and [email protected] Akeel Lynch, remained on the injury list, along with starting center Angelo Mangiro, linebacker Nyeem Wartman­ White and tight end Adam Brenneman. But offensive tackle Andrew Nelson, safety Marcus Allen, linebacker Brandon Bell and defensive end Evan Schwan returned to play Saturday. Indiana was without its starting quarterback, Nate Sudfeld, and leading rusher, Jordan Howard, who were injured against Ohio State last week. The Nittany Lion defense forced the visitors into six three­and­outs in 15 possessions, while holding them to less than half their 498­yard per game average and just 19 percent of their 36 average points per game. The Lions allowed the Hoosiers to complete only 15 of 33 passes for 155 yards compared to their average 273 yards per game—second in the Big Ten—and just 79 net yards on the ground compared to the 224 that ranked third in the conference. And the leading scorers in the conference could muster only seven points—29 below their average per game. No other opponent had limited them to less than 27 points. Penn State allowed the no­huddle Hoosiers to get off only 66 plays compared to the 92 they ran against the Buckeyes last week. The Lions’ defensive line got four QB sacks for 28 yards in losses against a team that had given up a total of just three sacks in its first five games. End Carl Nassib, who entered the game second in the nation in sacks, raised his team­leading total to 10 for 75 yards in losses. Tackle Austin Johnson, who joined linebacker Jason Cabinda, and safety Allen to lead the team with nine tackles, blasted in to flatten Indiana quarterback Zander Diamont for a 10­yard loss. And end Garrett Sickels added a four­yard sack. Offensively, State was much more aggressive in its passing game, going vertical several times and completing four passes for more than 20 yards each—two of which went for touchdowns. Hackenberg completed 21 of 39 attempts for 262 yards and two scores. He moved into second place on Penn State’s all­time list with his 17th 200­yard passing game and became only the second Lion to throw for more than 7,000 yards in a career. Seven Lion runners gained 154 yards on 32 carries, two of which crossed the goal line. With Lynch and Barkley still out, freshman Nick Scott started and had a career­long run of 35 yards among his eight carries for a career­high 57 yards. Fellow freshman Mark Allen had a career­long 28­yarder among his career­high 45 yards. For the first time in his collegiate career, Hackenberg ran for two touchdowns in a game. Add to that a couple 39­yard TD tosses to Bandon Polk in the first quarter and DaeSean Hamilton in the second— plus a 30­yard field goal by redshirt freshman Tyler Davis on his first collegiate attempt in the final frame—and you have a 22­point margin of victory against a team that lost to No. 1 Ohio State by only seven last week. So, at the halfway point of the season, the Lions have a 5–1 overall record with a 2–0 slate in the Big Ten. The Lions are 5–0 at home for the first time since 2008 and the fourth time in this century. They closed out their first five­game homestand since 1922 with the same 5–0 record posted in each of their previous two five­game homestands. “Today Penn State was a much better football team across the board,” said Coach Kevin Wilson, whose Indiana squad now has a 4–2 record with losses in both Big Ten contests. “Penn State was very solid … they really got after us.” Lion headmaster James Franklin called it “a great team win,” saying his offense was much more aggressive passing and the defense was “consistent all day long, especially after the onside kick and the fumble.” Hackenberg told reporters, “We’ve dealt with different things each week, different challenges.” He said being able to do what was needed, stick to the game plan and execute it, and have balance running and throwing the ball was huge. “One week at a time, that’s been our mentality.” Penn State had drawn first blood in the middle of the first quarter, when Hackenberg faked a jet sweep handoff to Polk, next faked a handoff to Scott up the middle, then turned and tossed the ball to Polk, who had continued down the right sideline on a wheel route. The speedy freshman hauled it in and galloped to the end zone to complete a 39­yard touchdown pass. It was the first receiving touchdown for Polk, who had tallied a touchdown on a 22­yard jet sweep against Buffalo a month ago. “The guy can flat out run,” said Franklin about the freshman, who is reputed to be the fastest man on the team. But Indiana immediately responded with a 65­yard drive—its only one of the day that covered more than 38 yards—to knot the score at 7–7, when Diamont ran 12 yards around right end and put his finger to his facemask to shush the home crowd. The Hoosiers surprised everybody in the stadium, including State’s kick­off receiving team, when they bounced an onside kick and pounced on it at midfield. But that’s when the Lion defense responded to what coordinator Bob Shoop calls a sudden change situation. Holding the Hoosiers to six yards on three plays, the defense forced another Indiana punt. On Penn State’s last play of the first quarter Allen fumbled a handoff from Hackenberg and, for just the second time this year, an opponent recovered a Lion miscue. Again, the defense quickly squelched the sudden change situation, and from there on Penn State controlled the contest. In the middle of the second quarter the Lions mimicked their three­play 91­yard touchdown blitz against Army last week. Allen rushed through the left side for 28 yards, and Hack completed a 14­yard pass to Chris Godwin, that the wide receiver cradled with a cornerback draped all over him. Then, Hack sailed a pass down the middle that Hamilton hauled in for another 39­yard TD to complete a four­play, 80­yard drive. After completing all 14 of his extra point attempts this fall, freshman kicker Joey Julius suffered his first miss—wide right. But Penn State had regained the lead at 13–7. On State’s next possession, Hackenberg completed a 16­yard pass to tight end Mike Gesicki and added a nine­yard run and a 22­yarder—the longest of his career—to put the ball at the IN­6. After Scott rushed five yards, Hack faked a handoff, hid the ball and rolled right to waltz into the end zone for his first touchdown of the season, just 36 seconds before halftime. Julius missed his second PAT—again wide right—and was replaced in the second half by fellow freshman Tyler Davis, who successfully booted a PAT and a 30­yard field goal on the first two kicks of his collegiate career. With the home team holding a 19–7 lead, a 400­piece Alumni Blue Band joined the 300 students in the Blue Band for a rousing halftime performance that delighted the Penn State faithful. And the pilots of two T­45C jets that made a flyover before the opening kickoff under the command of Penn State alumnus Todd D’Antonio, class of 1998, tore open their flight suits to reveal Penn State Unrivaled T­shirts to the cheering crowd of 97,873. Neither team scored in the third quarter, as the Nittany Lions were the first this year to blank the Hoosiers in the third frame, when they had scored 58 points in their previous five contests. In the fourth quarter, freshman cornerback John Reid intercepted a pass that went off the hands of an Indiana receiver, and that set up a 52­yard TD drive for the Lions. Hackenberg completed a 21­yard pass to tight end Kyle Carter on a third down to keep the drive alive. Then, feeling his oats, Hack tallied State’s last touchdown by ripping five yards through the middle of the Indiana defense and diving over the last man to the delight of his teammates. With the Hoosiers shut out for the final 49 minutes of the game, Davis’ field goal completed the scoring with 5:33 on the videoboard clock, and the happy homecomers returned to their tailgates under the warm afternoon sun. Penn State now hits the road for games against Ohio State and Maryland, before returning to Beaver Stadium to host and hopefully haunt Illinois on Halloween. The first primetime game in Ohio Stadium this year will kick off at 8 p.m. and be televised nationally by ABC/ESPN. The No. 1 Buckeyes apparently feel they must do something drastic to counter the “no­ name all­game” Nittany Lions, so they will wear black uniforms with reflective scarlet numerals outlined in gray. This will be the sixth different alternate uniform Ohio State has worn since 2009, and the game will be promoted as “Dark Night in The ’Shoe.” For the Glory,

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Part of your Penn State Alumni Association's mission is to strengthen the connection of alumni to the University and to provide valued services to members. The Football Letter is just one of the many benefits of membership provided to support that mission. VOLUME 78 ISSUE 6 Penn State vs. Indiana October 12, 2015

Notes from the Cuff Homecoming Parade Grand Marshal Keegan­ Michael Key was a big hit with students, Follow us on Twitter meeting with several theatre classes, strolling and across campus, imitating Coach Franklin in Check out the new the players’ Friday meeting, interacting with Football Letter Blog parade watchers, roaming the sidelines in Beaver Stadium and leading cheers at PSU 7 12 0 10 ­ 29 halftime. One of Penn State’s all­time leading INDIANA 7 0 0 0 ­ 7 receivers, Deion Butler, was also at the game … CONTENTS Penn State has won five consecutive home games for the first time since 2009, when The Letter they climaxed a string of 11 straight home wins that began in 2007. The Notes from the Cuff Lions’ record against Indiana is now 18–1 with a 9–0 mark in Beaver Other Sports Stadium … News of Note Game Photos The Nittany Lions scored on all three of their possessions in the red Statistics zone Saturday, improving their season mark to 19 of 21 with 10 touchdowns and nine field goals. They have scored 38 points off seven forced turnovers in the last three games. State’s 35:35 time of possession against Indiana was the most in a Big Ten game since it held the ball for 36:29 against Purdue in 2013 … In two Big Ten games this season, the Lions have allowed an average of just 61 rushing yards. Indiana’s 155 passing yards were the fewest PAST ISSUES allowed by State since last year’s game at Indiana, when the Hoosiers View past issues managed only 68. The Lions have now held eight consecutive Big Ten opponents to less than 300 yards of total offense. State’s defense has held opponents to seven points or fewer in the first half of 12 FAN ZONE consecutive games. The 10 points that the Lions have allowed in its first Football Schedule two Big Ten contests marks the best two­game start by the Lions since Team Roster joining the conference in 1993 … GoPSUSports.com Penn State, which entered Saturday’s game ranked No. 2 in the country Radio/TV Listings in QB sacks, now has 25 for an average of 4.2 per game. Carl Nassib Big Ten Football TV Schedule has 10, the most by a Nittany Lion since Aaron Maybin had 12 in 2008. Big Ten Standings Nassib has had at least one in every game this season. He also forced Big Ten Schedule and two Indiana fumbles to give him five for the season in a category Results where he ranked fifth nationally entering Saturday’s game … Penn Staters in the Pros DE Garrett Sickels and CB Christian Campbell each had a career­high For advertising info, contact: five tackles. Freshman DB John Reid grabbed the second interception of Angelo Scialfa 609­259­1910 his young career … [email protected] Tailback Nick Scott and center Wendy Laurent were the 12th and 13th players to make their first career starts this year. Brandon Polk is the first wide receiver to score rushing and receiving touchdowns in the same season, since Derrick Williams had three rushing and four receiving TDs in 2008 … Christian Hackenberg’s two touchdown passes gave him 39 for his career, which ties Kerry Collins for sixth place on State’s all­time chart. His 7,028 passing yards are second only to Zack Mills’ 7,212. His rushing TD in the second quarter was his first since the 2013 Nebraska game … Indiana has scored only one offensive touchdown against Penn State in the last two years. The Lions had seven plays of 20 yards or more Saturday compared to the Hoosiers’ one … Back­up quarterback Trace McSorley made his first appearance in the final four minutes of the game. He had his first run of five yards on a third­and­one and completed his first pass to wide receiver Gregg Garrity for four yards on a third­and­four. It was the first collegiate catch for Garrity, whose father gained fame with his spectacular catch in State’s first national championship game in 1982 … Two former drum majors executed front flips before the Alumni Blue Band played the alma mater Saturday. That probably prodded current DM Jimmy Frisbee to continue his perfect record on flips this year. The S­Zone continued its recent tradition of going pink and black on Homecoming to recognize State’s first colors in 1887. And Nittanyville campers who slept in tents outside Gate A at Beaver Stadium from Wednesday on were rewarded with front row seats in the student section … A total of 320 student­athletes, or 77.5 percent of the 413 enrolled this summer, earned a 3.0 or higher GPA; 171 of those had a 3.5 or higher for dean’s list recognition. Big Ten Scholar Awards (3.7 GPA or higher) were earned by 69 Penn State student­athletes in the 2014­15 academic year. Eight posted perfect 4.0 averages. During the fall 2014 semester, a record 500 of 800 student­athletes earned at least a 3.0 GPA, while a record 241 were on the Dean’s List with a 3.5 or higher. A spring semester record of 474 earned a 3.0 GPA in 2015, with a spring semester record of 221 on the dean’s list. The combined GPA among all athletes on Penn State’s 31 varsity teams was 3.11. A total of 277 Penn State athletes earned Academic All­Big Ten accolades in 2014­15 and raised to 5,041 the total during State’s 22 years of membership in the conference. VOLUME 78 ISSUE 6 Penn State vs. Indiana October 12, 2015

News of Note Pep Rally Details Available for Ohio State and Maryland Penn State and Ohio State clash in Columbus on Oct. 17, and we have Follow us on Twitter all the details for the pre­game pep rally and Friday night mixer, and sponsored by the Alumni Association and its local chapter. To view, Check out the new including a map of the area, visit the Alumni Association’s website. Football Letter Blog A week later, Penn State battles Maryland in Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium. Note: The game will be played at an off­campus location, the PSU 7 12 0 10 ­ 29 home stadium of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. The same fanfare will still INDIANA 7 0 0 0 ­ 7 exist, however, and details for the weekend’s festivities are available online. Click here for all the info. CONTENTS And for alumni, students and fans on social media, use and The Letter share #PSUpeprally for everything trending about the 2015 Penn State Notes from the Cuff pep rallies this season. Other Sports Alumni Association Honors 19 Outstanding Penn Staters News of Note The Alumni Association will honor the 19 recipients of this year’s Alumni Game Photos Fellow Award on Oct. 21 for their outstanding professional Statistics accomplishments. For the full list of honorees and the official release, visit our website. The Alumni Fellow Award was established in 1973 and is the highest award that the Alumni Association bestows. Follow the Alumni Association on Social Media Stay updated on Alumni Association news and events by following us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Also follow The Football Letter and The PAST ISSUES Penn Stater magazine on Twitter for more information on what’s happening at Penn State. View past issues Huddle with the Faculty Alumni and friends can catch light refreshments and some food for FAN ZONE thought at “Huddle with the Faculty,” the popular free lecture series Football Schedule hosted by the Penn State Alumni Association each home football Team Roster Saturday at The Nittany Lion Inn. GoPSUSports.com The next two presentations in the 24th annual Huddle series are: Radio/TV Listings Big Ten Football TV Oct. 31 (Illinois): “The Five Myths of Online Schedule Learning,” featuring Craig Weidemann, vice Big Ten Standings president for Outreach and vice provost for Big Ten Schedule and Online Education Results Penn Staters in the Pros U.S. News and World Report recently recognized the 15­year­old Penn

For advertising info, State World Campus as having the No. 1 online bachelor program in the contact: country. The World Campus now has more than Angelo Scialfa 609­259­1910 16,000 students worldwide pursuing one of [email protected] more than 125 online degrees and certificates. While the World Campus shares the same rigor, quality, and admission requirements as our traditional Penn State programs, there remain many questions and myths regarding the quality and future of online programs. Join us as we talk about the myths surrounding online learning, what is next, and where the college learning experiencing is heading.

Nov. 21 (Michigan): “Can Modern Coral Reefs Adapt to Climate Change,” featuring Monica Medina, associate professor of biology Coral reefs are the most diverse marine ecosystems on the planet. Geological structures built by living organisms over millions of years, coral reefs are the result of a symbiosis between an animal known as coral, and an alga, also known as zooxanthellae. This symbiosis is now being threatened by climate change factor like global warming and ocean acidification, as well as human activity like pollution and overfishing. Through the study of coral­algal interactions, Medina contributes to the understanding of the molecular underpinnings that maintain healthy marine symbioses. In particular, Medina has recently studied improbable reefs—those that are still thriving under increasingly unfavorable conditions—with the ultimate goal of identifying the adaptive potential of modern reefs to cope with global change. All “Huddle with the Faculty” programs start promptly at 9:00 a.m. and include free parking at the Nittany Parking Deck. Huddle with the Faculty is presented by the Penn State Alumni Association and sponsored by The Village at Penn State with support from The Nittany Lion Inn and Penn State Press. Hintz Family Alumni Center Open House Hours A reminder to all visitors that the Hintz Family Alumni Center’s open hours change during football season. On home football game days, the Alumni Center opens at 8:00 a.m., and closes one hour before kickoff. During away football weekends, the Alumni Center is open only on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. For questions, call the Alumni Association at 814­865­6516.

Published by Penn State Alumni Association Copyright © 2015 Penn State Alumni Association. All rights reserved. Part of your Penn State Alumni Association's mission is to strengthen the connection of alumni to the University and to provide valued services to members. The Football Letter is just one of the many benefits of membership provided to support that mission.