Inside the Numbers: Indiana at Maryland
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Indiana heads to College Park, MD to take on Maryland on Saturday. Image: Sarah Miller HoosierHuddle.com
By David Sugarman (@David_Sugarman2)
Coming off of their third loss in their last four games, Indiana looks to bounce back this week in another Big Ten road contest, this time at Maryland. If Indiana still has aspirations of seven wins, then this is virtually a must win. It’s time for our weekly dive into some stats in this week’s Inside the Numbers.
21 or less - The Indiana offense has struggled this season and haven’t been able to kick start much of anything with Peyton Ramsey at the helm. The Hoosiers have scored 21 points or less in four contests this year and are 0-4 in those games. Luckily for IU, the last three weeks the banged up Maryland offense has struggled scoring just 14 at Ohio State, 21 versus Northwestern and 13 at Wisconsin. This could be another low scoring game which will help Indiana. 20 points could easily win this Saturday’s ball game.
30+ - Having said all that, if there was a game for Indiana to get their offense going this could be the one. Maryland has given up 30 or more points in five of their seven contests and sport the Big Ten’s worst total defense, ranking 105th in the nation. Maryland hasn’t given up less than 30 in nearly a month since their 31-24 win at Minnesota. Nearly equally bad defending the run and the pass, the Hoosiers have the chance to show some balance in their offense that’s been lacking most of the season.
90+ - D.J. Moore has had had a wildly inconsistent year at wide receiver Maryland, of course a lot of that has to do with being down to their third string quarterback. Moore has had monster games like against Northwestern when he went for season highs 12 catches, 210 yards along with two touchdowns. He’s also been kept quiet like this past week against Wisconsin, three catches for 44 yards. The Terps ride Moore’s success to victory often, they’re 3-1 when Moore goes for over 90 yards. After Moore the next leading receiver is Tavion Jacobs who is averaging less than 40 yards per game. If the Hoosiers can contain Moore, they’ll have an easy time making the Terps one dimensional.
49.3% - Third string quarterback Max Bortenschlager was thrust into action this season after both Tyrell Pigrome and Kasim Hill were lost for the season within the first few weeks due to injury. The Fishers, Indiana native has shown flashes, but has struggled since Big Ten play began. Overall Bortenschlager is completing just 49.3 percent of his passes and has been even worse than that on Maryland’s current three game losing streak. He’s completed just over 41 percent of his passes (33-80) in that stretch. The only upside is that he’s been able to limit the interceptions, throwing seven touchdowns to just three picks. With Indiana’s strong secondary, the Terps will need to rely on the run game.
4th - In their four losses Indiana has been outscored in the fourth quarter/overtime a combined 49-13. Indiana is on the road and playing a team in an essentially identical situation, 3-4 and looking to set themselves up for a bowl birth in the last few weeks of the season. I predict this is going to be a close game and who controls the final frame will be key. Indiana will need to find a way to get more key stops and produce timely scores this Saturday and through the second half of the season.