BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Hoosiers needed to travel 95 yards in fewer than two minutes to win, but the Penn State sideline was still nervous.
Wide receiver Deon Butler crouched like a baseball catcher, helmet in hand. He and other players swiveled their heads from the Memorial Stadium field to its scoreboard, gauging how much time remained after each Indiana play.
Given the many opportunities Penn State allowed Indiana to take a lead, there was a chance the Hoosiers could put together a monumental finish. They had already scored four times on drives of at least 80 yards.
"We're just hoping that the clock ticks a little faster," wide receiver Jordan Norwood said of his thoughts as he watched Indiana's last attempts.
But with 40 ticks left and 30 yards into the Hoosiers' last chance, Penn State gained control of the clock. Indiana quarterback Kellen Lewis fumbled for the third time, handing possession over to the Nittany Lions, who knelt out a back-and-forth 36-31 win.
Penn State (6-2, 3-2 Big Ten) won its first road game of the season and became bowl eligible for the third consecutive year with the victory. But it was not without a struggle.
"This was a tough game. I'm beat up right now," defensive end Josh Gaines said afterward. "It was a great game. It was physical, too. They went out there and played hard. We played hard. And we just came out on top."
Four fumbles by Indiana helped Penn State do just that.
The Lions led 23-17 in the third quarter when Indiana (5-3, 2-3) found itself with a chance to take the lead within the Lions' 20-yard line. But defensive end Maurice Evans knocked Lewis to the ground in the Indiana backfield, forcing a fumble that Evans gathered and returned 55 yards before being caught at the Hoosiers' 13-yard line.
"I told him if he was a little faster, he would have scored," said quarterback Anthony Morelli, who threw for 195 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Lewis fumbled again early during Indiana's next possession, but the Lions came away with only six points off the turnovers, unable to convert two short red zone opportunities into touchdowns.
"We're getting a little better," Joe Paterno said, "but I was a little disappointed we couldn't capitalize on a couple things, going for field goals."
Penn State was able to extend its lead to 36-24 with four minutes left in the game on a lengthy 77-yard charge, but then allowed Indiana to complete its second straight 80-yard touchdown drive a little more than a minute later, capped by a 56-yard Lewis scamper.
The Hoosiers, though, never got within five points during the second half. But they kept it close enough to leave Penn State's first road victory since Oct. 28 of last year (at Purdue) in doubt until Lewis' third and final fumble.
The Lions moved back into the top 25 with the win and are now ranked No. 24 in the latest Associated Press poll.
"It was good tough football game for us -- four quarters," Butler said. "It's just a good thing to get over as far as a road win and keep the winning feeling that we have going."
