After evaluating Penn State’s heartbreaking 27-24 loss to No. 2 Indiana, interim head coach Terry Smith was reluctant to criticize the defense’s performance.

“I thought our defense started to take form and started to look like our old defense,” Smith said Monday. “Guys were being physical up front. I thought we got some pressure on the quarterback (Fernando Mendoza) and got a couple sacks. We hit the kid all game.

“We played really good up until that point (the final two minutes).”

The Nittany Lions (0-6 Big Ten, 3-6) will try to continue that momentum on defense against Michigan State (0-6, 3-6) Saturday at 3:30 (TV-CBS) at Spartan Stadium.

They held Indiana, the nation’s leader in scoring, to nearly 20 points and almost 179 yards below its season averages. They sacked Mendoza a seaso

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