STATE COLLEGE, Pa. —
The Steve Miller Band would’ve appreciated Indiana State’s trip to Penn State.
Perhaps the Space Cowboy even saw into the future and had the Sycamores in mind when he penned the lyrics to his popular 1970s hit “Take The Money And Run.”
“They got the money, hey, you know they got away …
… they headed down south and they’re still running today ...”
Change “down south” to “out west” and it fits the Sycamores perfectly. Penn State handed ISU a check for $450,000 to open the 2011 season. Then the Nittany Lions handed it to the Sycamores in an entirely different and unpleasant way.
There was very little in the game that was memorable about ISU’s sojourn to Beaver Stadium, which ended in an easy 41-7 victory for the Nittany Lions. From the opening kickoff onward, there was only one set of blue-clad fans who were happy in this valley.
The highlights for ISU? Punter Santino Davis did well and had plenty of practice (eight punts, 40.8 average) in which to ply his trade. Larry Carter got a sack on a third-down cornerback blitz in the second quarter. Quarterback Ronnie Fouch briefly gave ISU hope with a 29-yard connection to Alex Jones in the first half when it was still 14-0.
With the game well in hand, ISU put together its lone sustained drive of the game, ending in a 20-yard Fouch-to-Justin Hilton touchdown connection with 2:16 left against Penn State’s reserves.
That’s about it. Such was Penn State’s physical domination of the Sycamores. The Nittany Lions thoroughly dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
Because of Penn State’s impregnable front four, ISU had no running game to speak of, gaining six yards on the ground through three quarters on its way to a 2.2 average overall. When ISU tried to pass, Fouch was under pressure and had no time to pass. It was a lethal combination.
But no less lethal than the similar potency Penn State’s offensive line had in driving the Sycamores out of the way to the tune of 245 rushing yards and all five of its touchdowns on the ground.
Injury-wise, it could have been worse. Defensive tackle Lawrence Young was lost early to an ankle injury. Young and offensive tackle Paul Patrick both left the field with a boot on, but ISU came out unscathed otherwise.
So was the $450,000 worth it?
“It’s worth it. The opportunity to allow guys to come in and play at this level? It’s a wonderful experience for them,” ISU coach Trent Miles said. “They got to play in front of a huge crowd [96,461, largest ever to witness an ISU game] in one of the all-time greatest programs in college football against the all-time winningest coach in college football. They’ll have that the rest of their lives. And we get paid to do it too? That’s a win-win.”
Miles accentuated the positive in the aftermath of the loss. He reserved special praise for the defense, which was left on the field for long stretches in humid mid-day sun.
“In the grand scheme of things, we battled, especially defensively. We gave up a special teams touchdown, we had a fumble deep in our territory after stopping them and an interception deep in our territory. That’s 21 points the defense wasn’t responsible for,” Miles said.
In his comments, Miles also put the game into perspective without conceding that he didn’t expect to win. The truth is that little can be culled in terms of long-term trends for either of these teams from this money game (or others like it). For Penn State, it was a glorified scrimmage. For ISU, it will not see another team like this again on its 2011 schedule.
“I told [the team] a story after the game. Stanford went to play Texas at Texas in the [1999] opener and got beat [69-17]. [Then-Stanford coach] Tyrone Willingham told his team in the locker room that he had a championship football team. They went on to play in the Rose Bowl and won the Pac-10,” Miles said.
“I believe we’ll still have that opportunity. I’m not going to judge our season by this one game. I don’t have any doubt in my football team,” Miles added.
Well put. On this day, and on nearly any day, Penn State is the better football team.
But in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter. ISU can take its money and run … away from (un)Happy Valley to the Missouri Valley Football Conference part of its schedule that matters most to them come late-September.
Todd Golden is sports editor of the Tribune-Star. He can be reached at todd.golden@tribstar.com or at (812) 231-4272. Please read his blog at http://blogs.tribstar.com/downinthevalley and check out his Twitter feed @TribStarTodd.
College
Related Photos
-
Indiana State defender Jonny Towalid (28) breaks up a pass intended for Penn State receiver Justin Brown (19) during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Discussion
TODD GOLDEN: And now on to the normal part of the schedule
- College
-
-
DeNato proves IU can pitch too
Joey DeNato dispelled the notion that College World Series newcomer Indiana is all about offense.
The junior left-hander threw a four-hitter and the Hoosiers looked mighty comfortable at TD Ameritrade Park while beating Louisville 2-0 on Saturday night. -
Etherington, Moore happy to be with ISU basketball
Not even two weeks into their college experience, Indiana State freshmen men’s basketball players Alex Etherington and Demetrius Moore stood sentinel as 115 kids ran around them collecting basketballs and getting autographs at the Greg Lansing Basketball Camp on Thursday.
-
ISU's Johnson invited to World University Games
Indiana State senior Felisha Johnson will be traveling the world this summer after being named to represent the United States in the women’s shot put at the World University Games in Kazan, Russia.
-
FROM THE PRESS BOX: Close, but no cigar, theme for ISU sports in 2012-13
When I covered my first event of Indiana State’s 2012-13 season — ISU’s opening football game at Indiana — I was the first one in the press box at IU’s Memorial Stadium. I’m never the first one in the press box.
Maybe the prospect of ISU’s season had me so pumped that I decided to get it started close to three hours early? (Or more truthfully, maybe I was over-vigilent about predicted traffic horrors on the Indiana 46 bypass that never came to pass.) -
Q&A: ISU football coach Mike Sanford ready for fall
It’s hard to believe, but Mike Sanford has already been Indiana State’s football coach for six months.
Time flies, but Sanford’s task of preparing for his first season in charge of the Sycamores comes with few breaks. -
Rex streak ends at 7
The Terre Haute Rex table setters — Kyle Kempf and Tyler Wampler — had three of the team’s eight hits Friday at Bob Warn Field, but the Rex offense found itself in a big early deficit for the first time this season.
-
Manaea’s selection puts ISU in spotlight
Once the stress and hang-wringing over where Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea might get drafted was over, the angst subsided and was replaced with a happier emotion. Pride.
-
ISU’s Hope places 13th in NCAA pole vault
Indiana State senior Nicole Hope concluded her final competition of the 2013 outdoor season on Friday as she tied for 13th in the women’s pole vault at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
-
Metro roundup: Former Sycamores take talents to CFL
Former Indiana State players Johnny Towalid and Justin Hilton were signed by teams in the Canadian Football League this week.
-
Exit Minnesota, enter Oregon State on 2016 football schedule
When the Big Ten Conference implemented a nine-game football schedule starting in 2016 and discouraged members from playing Football Championship Subdivision teams, there was one game on Indiana State’s future schedule that was likely on borrowed time.
ISU’s scheduled game at Minnesota in 2016. -
METRO ROUNDUP: Swift reaches finals of NCAA Championships in 110-meter hurdles
Indiana State junior Greggmar Swift will be among the top eight in the NCAA in the 110-meter hurdles after qualifying for Saturday’s finals on Thursday.
Swift ran a time of 13.51 seconds to take third in his heat. He’ll run in either lane 1 or lane 8 on Saturday.
“I got out pretty good and then I hurdled three or four when I got bumped and it threw me off my rhythm,” said Swift, a native of Barbados. “I tried to get back my rhythm … but I held on for the third place.” -
ISU's Manaea selected 34th overall by Royals
Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea selected 34th overall by the Kansas City Royals.
-
Sycamores ready for more NCAA track success
Five of the six Indiana State athletes in Eugene, Ore., already have had some memorable track and field careers for the Sycamores.
But they’ll go ahead and try to add to their list of accomplishments in the NCAA outdoor championships this weekend.
Dustin Betz has been a scorer and key piece of eight Missouri Valley Conference championship teams between track and cross country. He’ll compete today in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the Sycamores’ second best in the event behind Jordan Fife. -
Mike Lucas joins ISU football staff
What traits do head football coaches seek out when they hire position coaches?
Indiana State football coach Mike Sanford provided insight into that question as he hired former Southeast Louisiana head coach Mike Lucas to his staff Tuesday. Lucas will be the Sycamores’ defensive line coach.
“You have to look at your staff and see what you need. I felt like in this particular case, I wanted an experienced defensive line coach. I feel like we have a mixture of experience and youth and I want to keep that going,” Sanford said. -
TODD GOLDEN: MVC Tourney can be ISU success story if work is done
Prior to last week’s Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament at Illinois State’s Duffy Bass Field, fear and loathing prevailed in some corners of the conference.
It seemed that Missouri State, Creighton, and most notably, Wichita State, had a monopoly on the season-ending tournament since the Coolidge Administration. (It had actually been since 1998.) How could the tournament make it without playing in one of the three aforementioned universities’ big venues? - COLLEGE REPORT: Wabash College All-American relay team has TH flavor
-
Six Sycamores heading to NCAA Track and Field championships
Three Indiana State seniors and a freshman punched their tickets Friday to the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in two weeks at Eugene, Ore. Two more got the job done Saturday on the campus of UNC Greensoboro in the East Preliminary.
-
Sycamores bow out of MVC Tournament
Indiana State’s baseball was out of pitching, and after a loss to Wichita State on Thursday, the Sycamores were out of second-chances too at the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament. What the Sycamores weren’t out of was heart, guts and clutch performances from some unlikely sources. But in the end, Friday’s elimination game rematch against the Shockers was a sampling of ISU’s season overall — the Sycamores were out of luck.
-
Metro Sports: Chalk up No. 5 for Liz Evans
Senior Liz Evans capped the top career in Rose-Hulman athletics history with her fifth national championship and eighth All-American award at Wisconsin-La Crosse on Friday.
-
Four Indiana State athletes advance to NCAA outdoor track and field championships
Three Indiana State seniors and a freshman have punched their tickets to the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in two weeks at Eugene, Ore., with their Friday efforts in the 2013 NCAA East Preliminary at Aggie Stadium on the campus of North Carolina A&T.
-
Wichita State shuts out ISU to force elimination-game rematch
Indiana State starting pitcher Greg Kuhlman did his best.
Actually, he did far better than he ever has previously in an ISU uniform, but while Kuhlman’s gutty pitching effort spoke volumes, ISU’s bats remained ominously silent. -
Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship
Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.
-
Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field
Indiana State freshman and Terre Haute North graduate John Mascari is among the enormous group of Sycamores competing this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary. The top 48 NCAA track and field competitors in each event on this half of the United States are narrowed down to 12 who will compete at the NCAA meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.
-
Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain
Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea has battled through so many aches and pains during the 2013 season that it can be hard to discern the serious pain from the pain he pitches through.
-
ISU's Negele answers call in big way in wake of Manaea injury
When Indiana State starting pitcher Sean Manaea slumped on the mound in obvious pain after he took his warm-up pitches, red flags raised for ISU’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament hopes.
-
ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction
Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
But this is the 2013 Sycamores, after all, and after a season in which seemingly little has gone right, it appears its stars will remain crossed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. -
ISU track sending record 22 to postseason
On the heels of their thrilling double victory at the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships both the Indiana State men and women moved up in the national rankings which were released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
-
ISU's athletic treasure trove
Think of every championship that Indiana State has won in each of its sports, past and present. Think of every tournament — postseason or regular season — which the Sycamores have claimed as their own.
-
Ort sets ISU RBI record in 16-7 win
Robby Ort celebrated his Indiana State baseball Senior Day on Saturday by becoming the Sycamores’ all-time leader in RBIs as ISU ended its regular season with a 16-7 win over Bradley at Bob Warn Field.
-
Bradley ends 16-game MVC losing streak against ISU
Momentum was the only thing riding on Indiana State’s baseball game against Bradley on Friday. With a five-game winning streak going, ISU wanted to keep the good vibes going into next week’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
ISU couldn’t do it. - More College Headlines
-
Unusual Heat Wave Bakes Alaska
Fans Cheer Dramatic Heat Comeback
Raw: Massive Protests Fill Brazilian Streets
Raw: Car Jumps Curb in NYC, Injures 8
Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On'
Hunt for Ex-Teamster Boss Hoffa's Remains Ends
Raw: Volcano Erupts Near Mexico City
Raw: NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Dies in Wreck
Car Crash in NYC's East Village Injures 8
Raw: Arizona Wildfire Scorches 8 Square Miles
Hoffa Mystery Still Fascinates After 4 Decades
Ohio Woman Accuses 3 of Holding Her Captive
Obama Renews Call for Nuclear Reductions
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Raw: German President Welcomes President Obama
Raw: 1 Dead in Shooting at Mo. Apartment Complex
Aug. Trial Set for Ohio Man in Triple Kidnapping
Failed Cuba-to-Florida Swimmer Won't Try Again
Obama: 'Lives Have Been Saved' by NSA Programs
Paula Deen Admits to Using N Word
Rihanna Hits Fan With Microphone
Men's Wearhouse Founder Fired
Miss Utah Explains Rambling Response
Exclusive: Locklear & Seymour Lock Lips
Miami Heat Wins in Overtime
Fists, chairs fly in restaurant brawl
Journalist Michael Hastings Dies in Fiery Hollywood Crash
Hairy Leg Stockings Aim to Deflect Male Attention
Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor
Three Charged for Enslaving Mother and Daughter
Spurs' Popovich has no problem with Spurs' intensity
RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach
Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane
Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber
Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent'
