Hoosiers Shellacked by Hawkeyes

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers hosted the Iowa Hawkeyes for Homecoming and for the eighth straight time, Indiana lost the annual Homecoming contest. IU fell behind early and never truly threatened the 5-1 Hawkeyes, eventually losing 42-16. Nathan Stanley led the way for Iowa, finding his tight ends often and racking up 320 yards and six touchdowns. The defeat drops Indiana to 4-3 heading into a game against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The Hoosiers began the game with a nice drive, mixing the run and the pass well as they got inside of the 20 yard line. Luke Timian appeared to catch a pass on second down to get Indiana in a “goal to go” situation but the officials ruled the pass was dropped and IU was forced to settle for a 29 yard field goal from Logan Justus. The Hoosiers had a few penalties (a recurring theme) on Iowa’s first drive and Stanley found T.J. Hockenson for a nine yard score to put the Hawkeyes ahead 7-3. Indiana was forced to punt and Iowa took over at the 30 yard line. They converted a fourth and two and then Stanley found Noah Fant on third and ten for a 28 yard score. The Hoosiers quickly went three and out and Iowa moved into scoring position and looked ready to strike with an early knockout blow. However, Thomas Allen stepped in front of a pass and returned the interception to the Iowa 34. Indiana converted quickly, throwing deep for a 32 yard score from Peyton Ramsey to Ty Fryfogle. The momentum was short-lived as Iowa botched the kick return but Indiana failed to tackle and Iowa began their possession at the IU 38 yard line. The Hoosiers had Nate Stanley for a sack but he evaded the tackler and found Nick Easley in the end zone for the 21-10 lead. The Hoosiers got into position to cut the deficit before halftime but a fourth and one attempt was not converted and the teams entered the locker room for the break.

IU needed a strong start to the second half and they got the exact opposite. The Hawkeyes marched down the field and IU’s defense again failed to tackle as Stanley completed a screen pass to Toren Young and he dove into the end zone for an 11 yard touchdown to effectively put the game away. IU was forced to punt and Stanley connected with T.J. Hockenson yet again for a long touchdown that made it 35-10. Peyton Ramsey led a nice IU drive and finished it with a 12 yard scramble to make it 35-16. The Hoosiers failed the two-point conversion. Indiana got a stop thanks to some Iowa penalties and appeared to have a chance to make things mildly interesting as they got inside of the ten yard line with a chance to make it 35-23. However, Peyton Ramsey threw an interception on a poor pass to give possession back to Iowa. The Hawkeyes took advantage of it and Nate Stanley threw his sixth touchdown pass of the game to make it 42-16. Peyton Ramsey threw another interception in the end zone to pour salt into the Hoosier wounds and cap off a miserable afternoon for IU at Memorial Stadium.

The Hawkeyes outgained Indiana 479 to 330 and IU had 11 penalties for 110 yards. This was an awful performance from the Hoosiers and it is difficult to envision next week going much better as they host Penn State before traveling to Minnesota to play the Golden Gophers.