Indiana’s gamble pays off in OT in win over No. 8 Penn State

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Quarterback Michael Penix forced overtime with a 2-point conversion run with 22 seconds left, then scored on a diving 2-point conversion to give Indiana a season-opening 36-35 win over No. 8 Penn State on Saturday to end the Big Ten’s longest streak of consecutive losses to top-10 teams at 42.

The winning play — Penix barely broke the plane with the ball, his outstretched 6-foot-3 frame lunging forward — went to a replay review before the officials announced the initial call stood.

Indiana beat the Nittany Lions for the second time in 24 matchups, and beat a top-10 foe for the first time since a 31-10 victory at Ohio State on Oct. 10, 1987.

And it took every trick in the book to get it done.

“All I’d seen was an opportunity, an opportunity to go out and show the world what the Indiana Hoosiers are all about,” Penix said. “They were playing man, so we’ve got to score to win the game and I wasn’t going to let my team down, so I went out and gave it my all.”

After Indiana failed to gain a first down after Sean Clifford threw a go-ahead 60-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter, coach Tom Allen instructed his defense to let Penn State score.

Devyn Ford obliged with a 14-yard run with 1:42 to go. Penix then took the Hoosiers down the field, scored on a 1-yard TD run with 22 seconds to go and added the 2-point conversion.

The game wound up in overtime when Jordan Stout’s 57-yard field-goal try came up short with 3 seconds left in regulation.

Penn State made it 35-28 when Clifford hooked up with Parker Washington in overtime, but Whop Philyor caught a 9-yard TD pass for the Hoosiers and Penix won it when he dove for the goal line and the ball hit the pylon.

“We’d been close so many times, and...