Kirk Herbstreit Feels Your Pain, Penn State Fans

ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit says he's 'still kind of confused' about the ending of the Penn State-Indiana game.

Even a week later, ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit said the conclusion of the Penn State-Indiana game still confuses him. And he empathizes with Penn State fans.

"If I were a Penn State fan, yeah, I'd be very frustrated by that," Herbstreit said Friday.

In a media Zoom call previewing Saturday's Penn State-Ohio State game at Beaver Stadium, Herbstreit took a few moments to reflect on Indiana's 36-25 overtime victory against Penn State. Herbstreit was in the booth in Minneapolis, about to begin calling the Michigan-Minnesota game, as Penn State and Indiana went to overtime.

As he watched replays of Indiana quarterback Michael Penix's dive toward the end zone on a two-point conversion, Herbstreit said he "kept seeing the ball hit the ground and then hit the pylon."

"And I'm like, there's no way that, as far as I understand the rule, there's no way that'll be good," Herbstreit said. "And they kept reviewing and kept reviewing. And then, of course, they said it was good. And I was like, what in the heck? I mean, I was more perplexed, because I thought I knew the rule. And I thought you could clearly see the ball hit the ground. So I'm still kind of confused by the whole thing."

Herbstreit had plenty of praise for Indiana and coach Tom Allen, who's had close calls with Big Ten teams before. The win was Indiana's first over a top-10 team since 1987. Herbstreit called it a "monumental win" for Allen, adding that "he's such a good guy."

As far as Penn State's reaction, Herbstreit separated it into two components.

"If I were a [Penn State] player, I would say well, we turned it over three times, we had 10 penalties, you missed two field goals, we shouldn't have put ourselves in that position to begin with," Herbstreit said. "That's what I would say as a player. But as a fan, I'd be throwing something at my TV. Like anybody else, I'd be upset and frustrated. So I get it."

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