Numbers That Mattered: Indiana Hoosiers vs. FIU Golden Panthers

Robert Goddin-USA TODAY Sports

Written By: Evan Alvarez

Numbers drive so much in today’s world and the sports world is no different. Now more than ever teams are hiring and building analytics teams to get every edge possible over their opponents. Over the course of the season, we’ll look into many of those numbers following the Hoosiers’ matchups each week. 

Today, we have the joy of examining the numbers behind Indiana’s recent 31-7 win over the Florida International University Golden Panthers.

44,150…

Represents the number of tickets sold for Opening Day against the Golden Panthers. The atmosphere until halftime was electric and the new student section area was nearly at 100% capacity. It was loud, fun and infectious. At the start of the second half and beyond that, however, that 44,150 figure felt much more like 4,150. Coach Cignetti and a few players had thoughts on that with the goal of turning Memorial Stadium into a true Power 4 Fortress. In the next several games, we’ll see where things land in that regard. 

79.1…

Represents Carter Smith’s Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade during this game, putting him ahead of anyone on the offense not named Elijah Green, who led the offense with an 80.6 rating on just 10 snaps (what an impact by the way). Smith was an absolute force though, to his credit, and was a huge piece in why Indiana was so successful against FIU. Among every single FBS offensive tackle who played football this past weekend, Smith finished tied for 4th overall in PFF pass block grade (89.2). He allowed 0 sacks, 0 QB hits, 0 hurries, and 0 pressures. Smith continues to look to build on a fantastic 2023 season by taking even more steps forward in 2024. Saturday’s game was one of the best starts you could ask for in getting there.

80.1…

Represents Josh Sanguinetti’s PFF grade during this game, ranking 3rd on the defense (West, Landino) and 4th overall (West, Landino, Green) on the team. I would like to specifically shout out Sanguinetti, as this performance put him at the 23rd best grade among safeties in the entire country. Coming into this year, Sanguinetti played a lot, but never had the biggest role. Over the past three seasons, he played 330 snaps, 255 snaps, and 268 snaps respectively. On Saturday, he played 54, putting him on pace for double that of every season’s snap total prior. Sanguinetti holds a very important role to this team as an experienced leader who knows Indiana better than almost anyone on the team. Thus, his elite performance on Saturday has an impact reaching far beyond the stats or box score - it sets the tone for what this program will be moving forward.

4…

Represents the most receptions any Indiana receiver had on Saturday (Myles Price). The unit as a whole finished with 15 receptions for 180 yards and one touchdown (Zach Horton). The passing plays were noticeably conservative with several short routes woven into every play. This seems to be by design for this game specifically, as I am sure Indiana didn’t want to give away the whole playbook in a game that was very likely going to be an easy win. So, the Hoosiers had long drives with short passes and a heavy run game - and it worked! There were a couple drops on some absolute dots of throws from Kurtis Rourke, which would have increased these passing stats significantly, but all in all it was a quieter game from the wide receiver unit. Again, this was likely by design, so no one is ringing alarm bells. Look for this to change significantly in games to come this season. The talent in Indiana’s wide receiver room is simply too good.

49%...

Represents the % of snaps taken by Ty Son Lawton. Justice Ellison was second among running backs, taking 34% of the snaps, while Elijah Green finished third among running backs with 14% of the snaps. The final 3% of snaps went to Kaelon Black. Entering this season, there was a clear indication that this offense would have a running back by committee, and maybe even run the hot hand on a game by game basis. That still very well might be the case, but Ty Son Lawton proved to be a force in the pass blocking game, ranking as the 59th best RB/FB in the country at pass blocking, per PFF grades, among nearly 500 RB/FB’s graded. This puts him as a near 90th percentile RB/FB at pass blocking, which will undoubtedly earn him more and more snaps as IU further opens up the playbook. Hoosier Huddle will plan to follow this unit moving forward to see if snap %’s and usage rates change.

Friday, September 6th @ 7:00 PM EST…

Represents Indiana’s next game against the Western Illinois University Leathernecks. Be on the lookout for a second edition of “Numbers That Mattered” after that game as well.