Bill O'Brien keeps Penn State's focus on Indiana

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Maybe it's the 20 years he's spent in coaching, or the five years he worked on Bill Belichick's staff with the New England Patriots, but Bill O'Brien won't allow anything to disturb his steely focus on the next game.

Penn State's first-year coach has been dealing with distractions ever since he was introduced to Nittany Nation on Jan. 7. The Jerry Sandusky scandal, the death of Joe Paterno, the Freeh report, NCAA sanctions, players transferring from and leaving the program - he's been through a lot. Yet he has led the Nittany Lions to a 6-4 record and found himself Friday on the 18-man watch list for the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award for coach of the year.

This week, with the reaction to Matt McGloin's inference that the world is against Penn State, and with people increasingly identifying O'Brien as the hot prospect for one of the many expected NFL openings after this season, the coach has handled this like everything else.

Stay the course. Don't lose focus on preparing for the next game, in this case Saturday against Indiana at Beaver Stadium. And don't let anyone know what you're really thinking.

He was asked this week if he had spoken to McGloin about what he said regarding the controversial fumble by Matt Lehman last week at the goal line, which appeared to be a touchdown on replay but was not reversed.

"Ah, you know, we've moved on to Indiana," O'Brien said. "I talk to Matt every day. But we're focused on Indiana, and that's what we're trying to do."

Reporters had the same success when asking about how O'Brien would handle rumors of being a candidate for an NFL vacancy.

"No, I'm focused on Indiana," he said. "We are at 6-4, trying to get a seventh win, and just really want to do a great job coaching this team this week for the Indiana game."

Obviously, O'Brien has advised his players to carry the same focus. Middle linebacker Glenn Carson chose not to give his thoughts on whether the Nittany Lions' season would be a success unless they finish with back-to-back victories.

"I'm not really trying to look back on the season, I'm just trying to look ahead to one game at a time," Carson said. "We really want this win this week, and that's all we're going after."

The Nittany Lions' focus is on Indiana (4-6, 2-4) and its up-tempo offense. That includes the Hoosiers' use of two quarterbacks, Cameron Coffman and Nate Sudfeld, who have combined to lead the Big Ten in passing at 293 yards per game.

If Penn State and Indiana play true to form, there will be a lot of snaps and many exhausted defensive players. The teams are 1-2 in the Big Ten in average number of plays, with the Lions holding a 77.3-76.6 edge.

Carson said his defense plays against Penn State's "NASCAR" offense every day in practice.

"We've seen a couple of teams that do it pretty well, but Indiana is really good at it," he said. "They're maybe one of the better teams at doing it that we've seen this year. But we practice against it every day so it's something we're very used to and comfortable with."

Saturday at noon, Beaver Stadium, State College, Pa.

TV/Radio: Big Ten Network; WNTP-AM (990), WNPV-AM (1440).

Records: Penn State, 6-4, 4-2 Big Ten; Indiana 4-6, 2-4.

Coaches: Penn State, Bill O'Brien (first season, 6-4); Indiana, Kevin Wilson (second season, 5-17).

Series: The Nittany Lions are 15-0 against the Hoosiers on the field, but 11 of the victories have been vacated by NCAA sanctions. Penn State took a 16-10 win last year in Bloomington, Ind.

Betting line: Penn State by 171/2.

Three things to watch

Penn State may pound the football with Zach Zwinak, and not just because the Hoosiers gave up 564 rushing yards last week to Wisconsin. The Nittany Lions have to control the ball and keep it away from Indiana's up-tempo offense.

With 63 receptions, sophomore Allen Robinson needs one catch to set a Penn State record for most passes caught in a season. He also needs 61 yards to move into the top 10 for most receiving yards in a season; 132 yards boosts him to fifth place.

Indiana probably will need to run the ball to keep the Penn State pass rush (26 sacks, second in the Big Ten) at bay, but the Hoosiers rank just 83d in the FBS in rushing with an average of 138 yards, three fewer than the Lions.

Three things you might not know

This game matches the two most prolific passing attacks in the Big Ten, with Indiana first and Penn State second. However, the Nittany Lions' Matt McGloin is fifth in the conference in pass efficiency, and the Hoosiers' Cameron Coffman is ninth.

Given Wisconsin's success with the rush last week, it's hard to believe that Indiana's defensive tackles, Larry Black and Adam Replogle, each have nine tackles for loss. The Hoosiers lead the Big Ten with an average of 7.3 tackles for loss per game.

This is just the third time in Penn State's 20 seasons in the Big Ten that the Nittany Lions are closing the season with back-to-back home games. - Joe Juliano

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