STATE COLLEGE, Pa. _ Saquon Barkley added some highlight-reel material to an already magnificent season, including a 98-yard return of the opening kickoff for a touchdown and a TD on his first career pass, but he stayed pretty much in the background Saturday as the Penn State offense struggled with Indiana.
Behind two touchdown passes from Trace McSorley to DaeSean Hamilton, a short TD run by McSorley and Nick Scott's return of a fumbled punt return for a score, the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions came away with a 45-14 victory before a crowd of 107,542 at Beaver Stadium.
The Lions (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) got a pair of special-teams touchdowns in a 28-point first quarter but struggled for the most part moving the football the rest of the way. Thanks to an effective fourth quarter, they accounted for 370 yards in total offense, below their average of 496.5 through four games, compared to 352 for Indiana (2-2, 0-2).
Barkley, who accounted for 205 all-purpose yards, rushed for just 56 yards on 20 carries and caught four passes for 51 more. One of his receptions was a leaping one-handed grab of a short pass from McSorley that turned into a 36-yard gain in the first quarter.
He also made his first career pass a memorable one, finding Hamilton for a 16-yard touchdown with four minutes and 13 seconds remaining.
McSorley completed 23 of 36 passes for 315 yards but was sacked five times and ended up with minus-19 yards rushing.
The Hoosiers turned the ball over four times, which led to 21 Penn State points. One of the turnovers came on an Indiana punt return when J-Shun Harris fumbled and Scott returned it 13 yards for a score in the first quarter.
Hamilton, a senior, caught nine passes for 122 yards and became Penn State's all-time leader in career receptions with 180, breaking the mark of 179 set by Deon Butler between 2005 and 2008.
His record-tying catch was a leaping 24-yard touchdown grab from McSorley. He also caught an eight-yard scoring toss from McSorley in the first quarter.
McSorley also scored on a one-yard run and Tyler Davis kicked a 45-yard field goal. Davis missed a 21-yard field-goal attempt and had a 42-yard try blocked.
The Hoosiers cut their 28-point deficit in half in the second quarter on a two-yard run by Ricky Brookins and Peyton Ramsey's 18-yard pass to Simmie Cobbs Jr., but they never reached the red zone the rest of the game.
The Nittany Lions benefitted from outstanding special-teams play for two of their four first-quarter touchdowns. It started from the opening kickoff when Barkley caught the ball on the 2, angled to the right, faked out the Indiana kicker at his own 40 and took off, breaking a final desperation tackle at the Hoosiers 25 and scoring.
Penn State was penalized on Indiana's first play from scrimmage and on the next play, the Lions' Christian Campbell separated Morgan Ellison from the ball and linebacker Jason Cabinda recovered for Penn State at the IU 39. A 24-yard pass from McSorley to Juwan Johnson highlighted the six-play drive which ended when McSorley followed Barkley over right guard for a 1-yard touchdown.
On their next possession, the Lions punted to Harris, one of the nation's top punt returners. Wide receiver Irv Charles immediately tackled Harris, who fumbled.
A roughing-the-kicker penalty against Indiana sustained the Nittany Lions' next drive. On the play after the penalty, McSorley looped a short pass to Barkley, who made a one-handed catch and motored 36 yards to the Hoosiers 27. Five plays later, McSorley found Hamilton on a fade pattern in the right corner of the end zone, and the eight-yard touchdown made it 28-0.
Indiana came to life after the Hamilton touchdown, driving 75 yards with the big play being a 54-yard pass from Richard Lagow to tight end Ian Thomas to the Penn State 2. Brookins ran it in on the next play and the Hoosiers were on the scoreboard.
