Indiana almost lost to Penn State. It took a herculean drive from Fernando Mendoza and a breathtaking play from Omar Cooper Jr. for the Hoosiers to beat the Lions. The catch is still fresh in our memories, and it is possible that even a generation later, we’d see it in highlight packages. While the Indiana offense is getting huge credit, Urban Meyer is focusing on what the defense did in that moment. 

While discussing the Indiana vs. Penn State game, Meyer viewed the game from a defensive perspective and credited Jim Knowles for making the chess game unfold. “I want to go to Jim Knowles,” Meyer said on the November 12th episode of The Triple Option. “He’s the coordinator of Penn State and is taking a lot of heat. But I watched this thing over and over again.”

The former Buckeye HC then went on to explain how Indiana made the same play three times and got covered by Knowles’ defense. “Indiana ran the same play three times, four verticals.” Urban Meyer narrated the play, “They hit the seam against cover three. Then they went back, and they hit the bender against cover two, and then they got the man coverage backup matchup, and then [Charlie] Becker made an incredible catch on the sideline. He was covered, and so you know, players make plays, but I want to really focus on this and get everybody’s take on this.”

The whole thing was a chess game between the Hoosiers’ offense and Jim Knowles. Rather than playing it safe, the DC went for the kill in the dying minutes of the game.

“First and goal on the seven chess match time. There was whatever time left, no timeouts. They had to score a touchdown. What did Jim Knowles do? He brought eight every time. Blitz zero. That means he brought eight people three times,” Meyer said.

That strategy was working. In their first attempt, Penn State’s defense hammered Mendoza, knocking down the ball. The same happened the second time the QB was blitzed. Again, Mendoza almost threw an interception. Call it crazy or whatever, Jim Knowles did it again. Everyone in the stadium knew Penn State is going to blitz, and they didn’t disappoint.

Only this time, Mendoza threw a wish, and it got granted. “I have not asked Coach Cignetti this. I’m convinced after watching it 30 times. The receiver Omar Cooper Jr. ran the same play as the play before. I think in that kind of situation, it’s a win-win. They’re just going to throw it up. And I think they told the receiver to be at the baseline of the goalpost, and that’s where he was the last two snaps and made one of the most ridiculous catches,” Meyer said.

More than it being a failure of the Lions’ defense, for Meyer, it was the case of “a great player made a great catch, Mendoza made a great throw.”

Jim Knowles’s experiment hasn’t worked for Penn State

For a moment, it seemed like Jim Knowles’ exit would turn out to be the costliest mistake Ohio State ever made. He made the Buckeyes’ defense rank No. 1 in yards allowed, No. 1 in scoring defense, and No. 1 in red zone defense. They wouldn’t have been a natty without Knowles. Even the exit wasn’t pleasant. 

However, Ryan Day hired Matt Patricia and hasn’t looked back. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Patricia’s defense is better than the No. 1 defense of the 2024 season. On the Lions’ side, James Franklin played his cards, and it cost him his job. Knowles was an expensive hire, and it didn’t help Franklin that the defense didn’t show up in their losses to UCLA and Northwestern.

Knowles went against a 0-4 UCLA, and the Lions couldn’t get a stop to save their life. Even against Northwestern, in the dying minutes, the same pattern followed. Although their performance against Indiana may have rejuvenated the program, the season is now over. Will Knowles be a part of their plans in the future? That’s for the next head coach to decide.