Inside The Numbers and Trends From Indiana's 34-13 Win Over FIU

Written By Nick Holmes (@HoosierHolmes)

I am confident I am not in the minority when I say, Indiana’s win on Thursday evening just felt different, very different. A good different. Even when trailing in the fourth quarter, there seemed to be this cool, calm confidence being exuded by the team, by both offense and defense. Something I cannot recall seeing in quite sometime.
 
With that being said, let’s take a look at some stats, trends, and general numbers that caught my interest from Indiana’s win over FIU.  

New Kids on the Block and Letting it Burn

Of the 61 Hoosiers who played in Thursday’s contest against the Panthers, 18 saw their very first action ever in a game for Indiana. Among those were junior college transfers Richard Lagow and Ian Thomas, Cincinnati transfer Ja’Merez Bowen, redshirt sophomores Joseph Gedeon, Michael Barwick, and Derrian Meminger, and redshirt freshmen Austin Dorris, Isaac James, Omari Stringer, DaVondre Love, Simon Stepaniak and Brandon Wilson. Also, six true freshmen saw their redshirts get burned, Marcelino Ball, Khalil Bryant, Coy Cronk, Cole Gest, A’Shon Riggins and Allen Stallings.

There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Rich

On Thursday evening we not only saw the start of year six under Coach Wilson, we got introduced his seventh starting quarterback since he’s been in Bloomington. Richard Lagow, the junior college transfer from Cisco, Texas, was named the team’s starter the Friday prior to game week. This coming after months of speculation that he would be the team’s first choice to lead the offense in 2016.
 
Despite being his first start in the Cream and Crimson, Lagow looked calm and collected throughout the evening and looked to have a solid grasp of the offense. He showed off impressive arm strength and zip on his throws, putting the ball on his receivers, giving them little choice but to catch it. Also, of the seven quarterbacks that have started under Coach Wilson, Lagow is the only one to win their very first start.

Third times still not quite a Charm for Hoosiers

With Indiana’s running attack led by its dominant offensive line, the conventional thought would be that this team would be amongst the best at converting third downs. However, against Florida International, the Hoosiers were just 6 of 15 for the evening when attempting to extend the drive. While this 40-percent conversion rate is a slight improvement over the 38.1-percent of last season, there’s plenty of room for improvement and Coach Wilson would agree.
 
"They were loading up the box a little bit, so that made things difficult. We didn't manage some third downs, and some plays slipped. One time, I called a play backwards, and we ran uphill and lost a third down conversion.”

Picking up right where Redding left off 

The junior running back was on a tear to finish the 2015 season, eclipsing the one hundred yard rushing mark in the team’s final three games of the season capped off by 227-yard performance in the team’s bowl game against Duke. Fast forward eight months and Redding continues his roll, carrying not only the ball 22 times, but numerous FIU defenders on his way for 135 yards on the ground, his fourth straight game cracking the century mark
 
However, to Redding, while the personal achievement is nice, means very little in the grand scheme of things. “I guess it’s nice, a good thing to have off the field, you know I just really want to help the team…”

Panther's Air Game Grounded

For what might always be remembered as the Zander Diamont game, the 2014 Old Oaken Bucket, it was also the last time the Hoosiers kept an opponent out of the endzone via the air. It was also the last time Indiana picked off an opponent three times in a game. Last year FIU had three touchdowns through the air against the Hoosiers, this year however, Alex McGough failed to generate any points via the passing game. Very encouraging signs for Coach Allen’s defense.

Having a Ball 

Reports all fall camp were that true freshman Marcelino Ball was impressing coaches and teammates alike, with his physicality, maturity and ability to make plays. Heading into game week, despite the depth chart not saying, Coach Wilson showed his hand and said Ball would certainly be in the mix for playing time against FIU.
 
“You'll see him in the mix, and you'll see Marcelino Ball at the Husky position, and he actually should be listed there with Zeke.”
 
The true freshman certainly lived up to expectations, recording 5 stops, a pass break up, and was all over the field, even getting some pressure on FIU quarterback Alex McGough when he was brought on a well-timed blitz. Oh, and did I mention he is only 17 years old and does not have a birthday until March.