Each week passes by and each week the Penn State football team seems to improve. In front of 106,000 people last week at Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions dominated a tough Iowa squad from the first possession until the last for a 41-14 victory.

This Penn State team is rolling, and I don't think anyone saw this success coming, especially after a dismal 49-10 road loss to Michigan. Since then, Penn State has won five straight with four of those wins coming against teams with a winning record.It's also safe to say that the outside world has taken notice to Penn State's improvement with the College Football Playoff committee ranking the Nittany Lions 12th two weeks ago and 10th this week.With success comes notoriety and notoriety creates pressure. It will be interesting to see if this young Nittany Lions squad can continue to perform on the field with the newly added pressure of national notoriety. It's something that this team has yet to encounter and even though Coach James Franklin says it's all about "Indiana times 15" in his press conference you know everyone inside the program realizes what's at stake with their national rankings.One thing I would like to highlight in this week's column is the depth that James Franklin has created with his recruiting ability. It's no secret that until Penn State's success this season many Nittany Lions' fans were not fond of the head coach, but one thing that's been constant is his ability to recruit.The Nittany Lions have ranked inside the top 25 in national recruiting in each year of Franklin's tenure. Penn State's depth has become evident as of late because of the injuries to starting offensive tackles Andrew Nelson and Brendan Mahon. Two years ago, injuries to two starting offensive lineman would've been devastating and would've probably meant the season, but now Paris Palmer and Chasz Wright have stepped in and it's been business as usual. In fact, Penn State accumulated 599 yards of total offense even with the injuries to Nelson and Mahon.It just goes to show how important having 85 legit scholarship players is to a football team. For anybody, that wanted faster results with Franklin, I hope now you realIze that depth needed to be built, especially up front and now that there is you will start to see more consistent results.Now on to this week's opponent, the Indiana Hoosiers. Penn State will travel to Bloomington to take on an always potent Hoosiers' passing attack.Replacing talented signal caller Nate Sudfeld, who is now playing back-up quarterback for the Washington Redskins is Richard Lagow. Lagow has passed for 2,546 yards with 15 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The Nittany Lions defense has played the bend, but don't break mentality in the passing game this season, allowing close to 200 yards per game.However, Penn State's improved pass rush doesn't bode well for Lagow, especially with his 13 interceptions on the season. I expect the "wild dogs" front four to get after Lagow and force him to thrown into some rushed decisions. Indiana does have a talented receiving group, so that's something to watch out for, but if the Nittany Lions can get pressure on Lagow that will in turn take some pressure off the Penn State secondary.Also, something of note with the Penn State defense has been its ability to stop the run over the past two weeks. The Nittany Lions have held their last two opponents to less than 50 yards rushing per game.Indiana will look to get the ball to Devine Redding, who has rushed for 793 yards and three touchdowns.On offense, Penn State has scored 62 and 41 points respectively in its last two games. That high powered effort has been due to the Nittany Lions ability to run the football with talented sophomore and now Heisman contending running back Saquon Barkley.Barkley has rushed for 675 yards and five touchdowns in his last five games. His successful running is a result of an improved offensive line and the running ability of quarterback Trace McSorley. Indiana is giving close to 165 yards per game on the ground.Las Vegas has Penn State as a seven-point favorite this week on the road.I think once again, there's no reason to think that Penn State shouldn't continue to roll. Franklin seems to have a tight lid on keeping his team focused and this team seems determined to make some postseason noise.I like the Nittany Lions passing attack advantage this week. The Hoosiers give up 225 yards passing per game and with Barkley's recent success it's pretty easy to believe they're going to stack the box to stop the sensational sophomore. I like the talent of the Penn State receivers and I think they will win their one on one match-ups, giving McSorley some open players downfield.My pick is Penn State 37, Indiana 21.