On Friday night, Penn State’s No. 1 women’s volleyball team won its 91st consecutive match in Rec Hall, the women’s Big Ten champion soccer team won its first-round NCAA tournament contest on Jeffrey Field, and the defending NIT champion men’s basketball team won its season opening game against Penn in the Bryce Jordan Center.

But for the first 38 minutes of the football game in Beaver Stadium Saturday, Nittany Lion fans worried that the weekend’s home winning streak might come to an unexpected end.

A hard-luck, cellar-dwelling Indiana squad—which had already narrowly missed upsetting Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Michigan in tough conference games—had jumped out to an early 10-0 lead over the Nittany Lions in the first 10 minutes of play in Beaver Stadium and was still clinging to a 10-10 tie midway through the third quarter.

Then it happened.

In order to clear a hard-rushing Penn State defensive lineman, Hoosier quarterback Ben Chappell—the Big Ten’s second leading passer, who had already completed 18 of 27 attempts for 155 yards and a touchdown against the Lions—put a little more air than he wanted under a screen pass to tailback Trea Burgess.

The ball bounced off the fingertips of Burgess and into the arms of the Lions’ Navorro Bowman, a 2008 All-Big Ten linebacker who is a semifinalist for this year’s Chuck Bednarik Award.

The hard-hitting, hard-running Bowman, who a month ago scooped up a fumble and ran it back 91 yards for a touchdown against Eastern Illinois, took off again for the goal line, which this time was only 73 yards away.

Mid-season All-American defensive tackle Jared Odrick wiped out Burgess, Bowman put a move on Chappell, and freshman defensive end Sean Stanley escorted him to the south end zone, where 20,000 screaming Penn State students welcomed him with a suddenly revised hope for victory in the last home game of 2009.

Bowman’s second long-scoring gallop—both longer than any Penn State run from scrimmage this fall—ignited the Lions’ offense. The home team’s next drive covered 73 yards in 14 plays. Evan Royster’s two-yard run behind the blocks of Dennis Landolt, Andrew Quarless, Mickey Shuler and Lou Eliades gave Penn State a 24-10 lead, and another 100,000-plus crowd that had come to say good bye to 18 seniors finally breathed a little easier.

Indiana fought back with another scoring drive but had to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Nick Freedland, when the Lion defense stopped it just outside the Red Zone.

State QB Daryll Clark, fully recovered from a shaky start that saw him throw two interceptions in the first quarter, engineered a 76-yard offensive push that culminated in his one-yard touchdown run on the 12th play and a 31-13 lead—which would have been the final score if a reserve defensive end had not been flagged for a roughing the passer penalty in the waning minutes. That hit on Chappell nullified Sean Lee’s interception on the goal line that had snuffed out the Hoosiers’ last long drive. With new life and a first down on the PS-6, Chappell tossed a TD to Tandon Doss with just 1:08 remaining to make the final tally 31-20.

So Penn State remains undefeated in 13 games against Indiana, and the Nittany Lions won their 10th straight Senior Day game and their 19th in the last 20.

But it didn’t come easy.

The visitors marched 59 yards with the opening kickoff until the Lion defense finally stiffened at the PS-10, and the Hoosiers had to settle for a 27-yard field goal by Freedland.

On Penn State’s third play from scrimmage, Clark attempted his first pass. It was tipped by an Indiana safety and intercepted by IU linebacker Matt Mayberry, who took it to the PS-43. Six plays later, Chappell lofted a 26-yard aerial toward Demarlo Belcher in the end zone. The 6-5 wide receiver leaped up and reached over 6-1 Lion cornerback A.J. Wallace to grab the ball and deftly got one foot down inside the out-of-bounds line.

With the game less than 10 minutes old, the visitors had stunned the Penn State faithful and a Big Ten Network television audience with a 10-0 lead.

When Clark threw another interception on the Lions’ next possession to halt a Penn State drive inside the IN-10, and Drew Astorino fumbled away an Indiana punt a minute later, the usually boisterous Beaver Stadium crowd was silenced.

Penn State’s offense finally showed signs of life late in the second quarter thanks to an 18-yard run by tailback Royster and a 13-yard pass from Clark to Royster. When the Hoosiers stymied the drive at the IN-16, Collin Wagner put the home team’s first points on the board with a 33-yard field goal with less than three minutes remaining in the half.

State’s defense forced a three-and-out, but Indiana’s punt was fumbled by Graham Zug. The Hoosiers recovered and had another possession, until Bowman sacked Chappell on third down and forced Freedland to try a 47-yard field goal, which sailed just outside the right goalpost.

With only 51 seconds remaining before halftime, the Lion offense had its brightest moment. On third-and-10, Clark completed a sideline pass to 6-6 Brett Brackett, which he caught for an 18-yard gain.

Wideout Chaz Powell had been injured early in the game, but fleet freshman Curtis Drake replaced him and carried a reverse around right end for 26 yards. An Indiana defender tackled him by grabbing his face mask, and the ensuing penalty moved the ball to the IN-13. Clark flipped a screen pass to Royster, who followed his blocking through the right side to the end zone to tie the game with just six ticks left on the clock.

On the ensuing second-half kickoff, senior Jerome Hayes committed the Lions’ third fumble of the game after a good 25-yard return. Fortunately, this fumble bounced 10 yards downfield and was recovered by State’s James Van Fleet, so the Lions wound up with a 35-yard kickoff return—one of their longest of the year.

However, home fans perceived an ominous sign when State’s opening drive stalled at the IN-20, and Wagner’s 34-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright and bounced back.

Then came Bowman’s interception return. About the same time the sun broke through a grey sky and warmed the rest of the afternoon for Penn State fans and post-game tailgates.

Given the upsets on Saturday and some of the remaining matchups, optimists think the 9-2 Lions, ranked 12th in the coaches’ poll, 13th in the writers’ poll and 14th in the BCS standings, are not yet out of the running for a BCS bowl—IF they can close out the season with a victory at Michigan State next weekend. The contest will be televised by ABC and ESPN on a regional basis with kickoff at 3:30 p.m.

For the glory,