Game Wrap and Reaction: No. 8 Cincinnati 38 Indiana 24

Image: Zach Greene Hoosier Huddle

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Opponent: No. 8 Cincinnati Bearcats

Location: Saturday, September 18, 2021

Why They Played: The Hoosiers and Bearcats met for the first time in over 20 years as part of a home-and-home series.

What The Game Meant: This was a big game for both teams. Indiana was looking to score a top-10 win while Cincinnati was looking for a Power-5 win to pad their resume for a College Football Playoff run.

Top Offensive Performers

D.J. Matthews, WR, Indiana-Matthews was Indiana’s best offensive player. He had 148 total yards with a rushing touchdown.

Alec Pierce, WR, Cincinnati-The Bearcats spread the ball around, but Pierce was the main target making five catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Jerome Ford, RB, Cincinnati- Ford didn’t have a standout game, but did find the end zone twice and finished with 66 yards on the ground.

Top Defensive Performers

Cam Jones, LB, Indiana-Jones set the tone early with a couple of huge hits on the Bearcats ball carriers. He finished with six tackles and a pass break up.

Ryder Anderson, DL, Indiana-Anderson has been an absolute beast up front for IU. He made seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and forced a fumble.

Deshawn Pace, LB, Cincinnati- Pace led the Bearcats in tackles with 10. He also had an interception and a tackle for loss.

Darrian Beavers, LB, Cincinnati- Beavers had nine tackles and two tackles for loss and forced a fumble.

Special Team Performance

After a stellar performance against Idaho, the Hoosiers special teams unit came crashing back down to earth as they let a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown swing the game in the Bearcats favor.

Charles Campbell only had one field goal attempt and nailed it along with three extra points.

James Evans had a decent day punting averaging 44.5 yards punting, but allowed 25 yards in punt returns.

​Key Stat(s)

3-6

The Hoosiers made six trips into the red zone on offense and had three drives end with zero points when they had the ball inside the Cincinnati 10-yard line. The Hoosiers had a turnover on downs, interception and a fumble on three of those trips. That’s a minimum of nine points left on the field. Indiana must be smarter in the red zone.

Turning Point

There was a lot that went wrong for IU, but the tone of the game changed when Micah McFadden was ejected on a highly-questionable targeting penalty that saw the All-American linebacker tossed after a review created the penalty. It seemed that McFadden did lead with the crown of his helmet, but was pushed into the quarterback.

I Knew it Was Over When…

Michael Penix threw his third interception of the game that led to the Bearcats final touchdown and a 38-24 lead.

Players of the Game

D.J. Matthews, Indiana- Matthews was a spark plug and should be more involved in the offense going forward.

Darrian Beavers, Cincinnati- He broke the hearts of Hoosier Nation with 10 tackles and a huge forced fumble late in the game.

What I took away from the game

Indiana could not survive the self-inflicted wounds they sustained Saturday against a very good Cincinnati team. The Hoosiers left at least nine points on the field, extended Bearcat drives with big penalties, turned the ball over four times and allowed a catastrophic 99-yard kick return touchdown.

The defensive game plan from IU was great through the first 25 minutes, but Micah McFadden was ejected (the targeting rule needs to be changed) and that’s when the game changed. The air was sucked out of the stadium as the fans focused on booing the officials. Despite allowing 38 points, the defense held Desmond Ridder and company in check most of the day.

The offense did some nice things and showed some creativity, but the red flags showed themselves again as the Hoosiers ran the ball 21 times on first down for an average of 2.7 yards that constantly set up the offense behind schedule. On 10 first down pass plays IU averaged an eight-yard gain. Indiana quarterback also did not look sharp again. While he made some very nice throws and finished with a season-high 224 yards passing, he threw three ill-advised interceptions and fumbled a snap on a fourth down quarterback sneak. It was learned that Penix went for x-rays after the game. It is unclear when or what he injured during the game. We will update readers on Monday.

Staying on the offense, where has Ty Fryfogle gone? He was targeted seven times on Saturday and made just one catch for 13 yards. He has had trouble getting separation against defensive backs and even when he does he hasn’t been the sure handed All-American IU expected to see this year.

The Hoosiers now sit at 1-2, which isn’t entirely surprising. They have played a very difficult schedule to open the year and it certainly was a possibility. However, what makes IU fans shudder is how they have lost and how bad the offense has looked at times.

IU will hit the road next week to take on another Group of Five squad in Western Kentucky. The health of Michael Penix Jr. is unknown and there are questions swirling about whether or not Jack Tuttle should be the starter anyway. While the game may not move the needle nationally, it is a huge game for the Hoosiers.