'Defense Let Us Down' as Hoosiers Can't Climb Out of First Half Hole

Written by Matt Smith

The Indiana Hoosiers saw their upset bid go up in flames in a 28-point second quarter for the Cincinnati Bearcats. It was the most veteran unit on the defense that had trouble containing the Cincinnati aerial attack.

“The defense let us down in the first half,” head coach Tom Allen said following the game.

The Hoosier secondary was burned for four first half touchdown passes from Ben Bryant, three of those to Travis Scott tying a UC record.

The most troubling part was that Cincinnati’s success came against IU’s top defenders.

“Some of the mistakes on defense to me were just one-on-one guys who got beat,” Allen said. “It’s not that we weren’t focused on playing hard.”

The defense was able to step up during the second half and created a turnover by way of a Tiawan Mullen interception early in the third quarter.

However, the deficit proved to be too much for the Hoosiers this time as they trailed by 28 points during the game and were unable to work the magic they had against their first three opponents. 

“This team has fight and grit,” Allen said. “But you can’t get down by four scores in the first half.”

Indiana’s best cornerback Tiawan Mullen was burned a couple of times for big plays, including two touchdowns. He did intercept a pass in the third quarter as the Hoosier defense found their footing. But he blamed himself, as the captain of the defense, for IU’s failures Saturday.

“I take full responsibility.” Mullen said after the game.

Mullen and the secondary will need to get it right soon. It looked like they found a groove in the second half as the Bearcats had just 40 yards passing.

The Hoosiers will return to the field October 1st when they travel to Lincoln to take on Nebraska.