Penn State misses Noah Cain for most of the first 30 minutes, trails Indiana at the break: Halftime analysis

No. 8 Penn State trails Indiana 17-7 at the half, and most of the wounds have been self-inflicted.

The Lions did play much of the opening 30 minutes without starting running back Noah Cain due to an undisclosed injury suffered early on, but they also turned the ball over three times. The Hoosiers turned those into 10 points while the third one erased a chance for head coach James Franklin’s team to score from inside the Indiana 10-yard-line.

New offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca’s offense struck first with a punishing opening drive that covered 64 yards over 13 plays and took 7:01 off the clock. At the moment, and following a quick stop, it appeared that the visitors would be in control.

Little went right from there on offense, however. Clifford’s first interception, a sailed pass on an attempted screen, led to three points, and then a second pick thrown from almost his own endzone led to IU’s Stevie Scott III scooting in for a score.

Penn State did have a chance to pull within 10 before the break, as Lamont Wade recovered a fumble with two seconds left. But, Jake Pinegar missed a 25-yard field goal when it banged off the right upright.

All told, it was mostly a horrible half for the Lions, who failed to take advantage of breaks presented to them by Indiana while handing the Hoosiers plenty of gifts. Clifford, who was 11-16 for just 91 yards, struggled after Cain went out, and backup quarterback Will Levis’ fumble ended a promising Penn State drive before the half that was approaching points.

A pandemic-extended offseason sans contact was always going to be a problem from a fundamentals and execution standpoint, and yet both teams had to deal with it. Indiana mastered it much better than Penn State did after the initial two quarters. The Lions must clean up their mistakes — and let’s not forget a couple of special teams mishaps and poor pass coverage mistakes, as well — after the break, or otherwise, they will tumble out of the top 10 faster than they got there this fall.

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