No. 2 Penn State Holds Off Indiana : Big Ten: No. 2 quarterback Dittoe rallies Hoosiers, but touchdowns come too late and Nittany Lions win, 35-29.

Penn State, which lost its No. 1 ranking to Nebraska last week, gave up two touchdown passes to Indiana’s No. 2 quarterback, Chris Dittoe, in the final two minutes, but still easily defeated Indiana, 35-29, Saturday.

It was the most points scored off Penn State, 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten, and its narrowest winning margin this season. Indiana (5-4, 2-4) lost its third consecutive game.

“They did a lot of things. We have to really credit Indiana for the defensive scheme they came in with,” said Penn State quarterback Kerry Collins, the nation’s leader in pass efficiency.

“And I don’t think we were as sharp as we were last week. Put those two things together and we weren’t as sharp as we have been in the past.”

Penn State was coming off a 63-14 victory over Ohio State.

“Any time you go on the road in the Big Ten you’re going to be in for a tough football game,” Collins said. “But I think it was good, because against Ohio State we did pretty much what we wanted to. I think we may have let down a little bit. It’s a good lesson for us. We were in a tough ball game and Indiana played really well, and we had to scratch and claw to pull it out.”

Collins passed for 213 yards and two touchdowns and Ki-Jana Carter rushed for 192 yards and ran 80 yards for a touchdown, as Penn State seemed to have the game in control after leading, 35-14, with six minutes to go.

Dittoe, who replaced starter John Paci in the second quarter, passed five yards to Eddie Baety for a touchdown with 1:49 left.

After a punt, Indiana went 80 yards and scored again on Dittoe’s 40-yard pass to Dorian Wilkerson as time expired.

Dittoe, who had two earlier touchdown passes to Ajamu Stoner, then connected with Stoner on a two-point conversion pass to end the game.

Dittoe, who was 21 of 35 for 279 yards, said, “The coaches gave us a great game plan. The big thing was don’t worry about who’s coming in, don’t worry about the ranking.”