Hard Lessons to be Learned After 45-24 Loss at Cincinnati

Written by: @zachegreene

Saturday was a deflating loss for the Hoosiers program and its fans. The Hoosiers have tempted fate more than a few times this season with late-game heroics, but on Saturday they learned a hard lesson. In order to beat good teams, and yes Gregg Doyle Cincinnati is a good team, IU has to play consistently well. On Saturday, they did not.

“We started the script slow in the first half and then picked it up in the second half. At that point, it was too late. We must get back in the lab and get back to work.” Said veteran cornerback Tiawan Mullen after the game. 

The Hoosiers execution was nearly non-existent in the first half. The defense allowed two long passing touchdowns, while the offense turned the ball over twice, leading to 10 Bearcat points.. It was ugly and in the first one, the wide receiver ran straight down the seam in cover two defense, and later there was another big play versus man coverage. 

“We weren’t consistent in our execution. It snowballed as the lead got further and further away from us in the first half because the defense was giving up big plays. Also, we had some special team penalties that put us back.” Said Tom Allen after the game. 

The IU secondary was touted as the teams best unit and they were abused to the tune of four first half touchdown passes, three by Travis Scott.

“It’s very disappointing. Normally we don’t allow that. It’s not in our DNA. That’s unacceptable on my end being a leader and captain. I take full responsibility.” Indiana cornerback Tiawan Mullen said. 

Slow starts are quickly becoming a thing for this year’s Hoosier team. It’s fine when you can pull out a win, but against Cincinnati a sloppy start means being down 28, not 10 or three. It is something Allen is aware of and is concerned about.

“It concerning. Then you start developing a pattern. It needs to be behind us. First time on the road. You gotta be able to handle that. It’s the reality of what’s ahead. It has to be a point of emphasis, not that it hasn’t been. Obviously, it hasn’t been good enough. We are still struggling to get off to a fast start on offense because it has to happen.” Allen explained.

Whether the Bearcats took their foot off the gas or the Hoosiers started to figure things out is arguable, but the second half showed what IU is capable of when they execute right and give themselves a chance.

The Hoosiers looked like a different team in the second half for those who still watched. The Hoosiers came out of the second half playing with fire. They forced multiple three-and-outs and got a big interception from Mullen. They gave up zero points other then the Bearcats taking the ball at our own goal line. Does that excuse the rest of the game? No, but the fact IU didn’t just roll over is a glimmer of hope.

“We got to be able to execute and flush it. We can’t do anything to change it. I talked about finding out what this team is made of. What kind of character we are? We talked about having grit but we’ve never been down by 28 in the first half” Allen said on his half-time speech.  

“It was too little too late for the Hoosiers but Tom Allen saw what this team is made of. They will never give up and haven’t given up. There’s no doubt that this loss hurt my sole but it is uplifted to see how the defense played in the second half. If the offense can flip it around and we see what we saw from the Hoosiers D in the second half, we will have a lot to look forward to this season.” Tiawan Mullen said postgame.

Mullen described it perfectly. It was too little too late for the Hoosiers to win this game but as much as this loss hurts there are many building blocks that continued to be built by this Hoosiers program.