Written By Rylie Kyhn

The Hoosiers look to go 3-0 against an upstart Ball State squad that put a scare into Notre Dame last Saturday. We take a dive inside the numbers that will have an impact on this week’s matchup.

Rushing Yards

A big question for the Hoosiers going into the game on Saturday was how effectively they would run the ball without Morgan Ellison and Cole Gest, their two previous starters. That question was answered nine minutes into the first quarter when true freshman Stevie Scott took off for a 40-yard touchdown run. Scott followed that with solid production for the entire game and finished with 207 rushing yards, the second most by a true freshman in history. Scott was named B1G Co-Freshman of the week and he put away any worries Indiana had about not having their two starting backs. The performance of the offensive line also earned them players of the week. Combine Scott with the O-line and they are going to be a threat for the Ball State defense this weekend. On the other side, the Cardinals have a talented quarterback and a solid groups of running backs as well who stepped up for the Cardinals to put up a fight against Notre Dame last weekend. The Cardinals rushed for 169 yards and quarterback Riley Neal was the second leading rusher which means the Indiana defense is going to have to come up with a solution for another dual threat quarterback. They were able to stop the Virginia attack when they needed to and if they can do the same against Ball State, it will make for another interesting match-up. Both teams averaged 5.1 yards per rush in their previous games

Red Zone Scoring Success

Last season, the Hoosiers struggled to convert in the red-zone but so far in their first two games of the season, they have had more success. Over the first two weeks of the young season they went 6-7, 86 percent, in the red-zone and were 5-7 on red-zone touchdowns. Ball State has a slightly lower red-zone scoring percentage, last weekend they went 7-9, 78 percent, and 7-9 on red-zone touchdowns. Ball State left plenty of points on the field against Notre Dame.

Takeaways

Just like last weekend against Virginia, takeaways are going to be important again in this game. The Cardinals came up with three interceptions against Notre Dame, and honestly should have had a few more, all coming from different players. The interceptions played a huge part in how they held Notre Dame to only 24 points. The Indiana offense is going to have to take care of the ball or the Cardinals will make them pay for it. Although the Hoosiers didn’t come up with their takeaway goal, they got the job done on defense and they got at least one. True freshman Micah McFadden stepped up and played a big game for Indiana. McFadden forced the first fumble of his career that was recovered by Bryant Fitzgerald to get the defense going early in the first quarter. McFadden and Reakwon Jones were named players of the week after combining for nine total tackles and coming up with a few key plays.

Tackles for Loss

The Hoosiers totaled 14 tackles for loss for 37 yards compared to the Cardinals who totaled 10 tackles for loss. The Indiana defense looked much more well-rounded last weekend against

Virginia. This weekend against the Cardinals is a big chance to add to their experience and production before heading into conference play next week. Negative plays limit the effectiveness of each teams’ offense.

The Huddle

Inside the Numbers Week Three: Rushing Attacks, Red Zone Efficiency Will Rule the Day

Hoosier Huddle