Game Wrap and Reaction: No. 10 Michigan State 20 Indiana 15

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Opponent: Michigan State Spartans

Location: Saturday, October 16, 2021

Why They Played: The Hoosiers and Spartans meet annually to battle it out for the Old Brass Spittoon.

What The Game Meant: This was a gotta win game for the Hoosiers. They lost and sit at 2-4 with Ohio State coming to Bloomington next week before heading to Maryland.

Top Offensive Performers

Stephen Carr, RB, Indiana- If you had to give IU a top offensive performer it has to be Carr. He had 96 total yards and a touchdown.

Jayden Reed, WR, Michigan State- Reed made several big catches to get Michigan State down field. In all he finished with four catches for 70 yards.

Top Defensive Performers

Micah McFadden, LB, Indiana- Indiana’s All-American linebacker played like it again, even with a cast on his left hand. McFadden had nine tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks to go along with a pass break up. He helped lead the IU defense in holding Heisman candidate Kenneth Walker III to just 84 yards on the ground.

Noah Pierre, CB, Indiana- Pierre stepped up in the absence of Tiawan Mullen and Reese Taylor. He also had nine tackles with one tackle for loss and an interception.

Quavarius Crouch, LB, Michigan State- Crouch had a game-high 13 tackles and one pass break up.

Cal Haladay, LB, Michigan State- Haladay got Michigan State on the board with a 30-yard pick six. He finished with seven tackles as well.

Special Team Performance

The Indiana special teams performance was another ‘meh’ performance. Outside of Charles Campbell, who hit three of his four field goals, and good coverage on kickoffs the unit did not do much to help Indiana win.

The Hoosier kick and punt return units are, at best, non-factors and quite possibly a negative. For an offense that has the issues IU has, that’s a major problem. Against Michigan State the Hoosiers cost themselves major yardage by taking a kick out of the end zone, fair catching a punt at the six and bungling a punt that should have been downed inside the 10. Those hidden yards count in winning and losing games.

James Evans again had an up and down day as he averaged just 39.4 yards per punt and only a net average of 33.4 yards per punt. The Spartans had a net punt average of 44.1 yards. That’s another 11 yards of field position.

​Key Stat(s)

14-0

The Spartans scored 14 points off of Hoosier turnovers. One was a pick six and the other touchdown was set up on a short field by an errant throw from Jack Tuttle. IU’s opponents have now scored 42 points off of turnovers this season.

Turning Point

This is a tough one. You can say the pick six early in the game or the touchdown that gave Michigan state an eight-point lead in the third quarter. Both were back breakers.

I Knew it Was Over When…

Indiana turned it over on downs with 2:03 seconds left.

Players of the Game

Micah McFadden, IU- Enjoy watching him while you can Hoosier fans, this may be his last season in the cream and crimson. He had nine more tackles and 2.5 TFLs.

Cal Haladay, MSU- Kept MSU in the game with an early pick-six. Finished with seven tackles.

What I took away from the game

 For me this is the game that broke the dam for the offensive staff. I was waiting for a QB change to see if it would help, it didn’t. Tom Allen needs to make a business decision when the season is over (it’s not happening in-season folks). IU’s first drive was really good, but bogged down yet again in the red zone and while they used Donaven McCulley at quarterback, they did not use him at the goal line when they needed an early touchdown. The problem with the offense is obvious to anyone who follows IU football, it’s the play and coaching of the offensive line. There’s talent, or at least according to recruiting ratings there is. So it’s either an evaluation issue or a development issue and both fall in the lap of Darren Hiller, the offensive line coach.

The other issue with the offense is the coordinator Nick Sheridan. While plays may be limited due to a lack of protection, this is not the first time in football history there has been poor offensive line play. Sheridan is capable of calling a good game, we saw it against Michigan last year and his hiring was endorsed by his predecessor Kalen DeBoer. However, the offense has regressed since he has taken over and the Hoosiers have scored just one touchdown in three Big Ten games. Sheridan had two weeks to get ready for a leaky Michigan State defense and we really did not see anything new outside of McCulley and one play with Stephen Carr in the wildcat. This team is too talented to be this dysfunctional on offense.

Speaking of talent, the players do not get a pass either. IU’s stars have to play like stars. Too many times this season Ty Fryfogle has not made the competitive catch. Sure defenses are playing him tight, but All-Americans are supposed to make plays against good defenses. However, it’s not just Fryfogle, the receiving corps as a whole is having trouble creating separation and making the play on 50/50 balls. As Allen said after the game, someone has to step up and make a play.

The running game was OK for what the expectations were. The Hoosiers had a couple long runs, but they need more depth at the position and it was a little surprising to not see David Holloman or Trent Howland (if he was healthy) get a few carries.

The Indiana defense has given this team a chance every single week and while it sounds like they enjoy the work, it has to be getting burdensome to carry the load each week.

What’s next for IU? Well, the Buckeyes come to town before the schedule gets a bit easier in the last five games. The big question is what will the buy in look like if the Hoosiers are 2-5 heading to Maryland and needing to win four-of-five just to get bowl eligible. The opportunity to rack up some wins will be there, but will the fight continue to be, especially if the offense doesn’t show any life.