Game Wrap and Reaction: Maryland 42 Indiana 39
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By David Sugarman (@David_Sugarman2)
Opponent: Maryland Terrapins
Location: Saturday October 28th, College Park, MD
What The Game Meant: Both teams were riding three game losing streaks and at 3-4, needed wins put themselves in more manageable positions to make a bowl game through the last leg of the season.
Top Offensive Performers
Peyton Ramsey, QB, Indiana - Despite missing much of the fourth quarter due to injury, Ramsey had his best game as a starter yesterday. Ramsey finished 31 of 41 for 279 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception. Despite being sacked five times and taking a number of hits, Ramsey showed grit and played well.
Richard Lagow, QB, Indiana - Richard Lagow was thrust into action in the second half and performed admirably. 12 for 21 with two touchdowns, granted it was against the Big Ten’s worst defense, but it was the Richard Lagow fans were hoping to see this season that was absent following the Ohio State game.
Simmie Cobbs, WR, Indiana - Cobbs had a stellar performance with 10 catches for 138 yards and caught a touchdown from both Peyton Ramsey and Richard Lagow. Cobbs made some high degree of difficulty catches and abused a weak Maryland secondary.
Whop Philyor, WR, Indiana- The true freshman has become a real weapon for the Hoosiers since Big Ten play restarted against Penn State. Philyor had 13 catches for 127 yards and a score.
Ty Johnson, RB, Maryland - Johnson fell just shy of 100 yards, finishing with 91 yards including a 46-yard carry. The Hoosiers struggled defending the run and Johnson led the way.
D.J, Moore, WR, Maryland - Maryland didn’t throw the ball often, just 16 times for 171 yards. D.J. Moore had 77 of those yards including a touchdown. He was held in check, but showed flashes to why he’s one of the best receivers in the Big Ten despite being down to his third string quarterback.
Top Defensive Performers
Tony Fields, Husky, Indiana - After moving to the husky position this week permanently, Fields made an immediate impact. Fields picked off a pass to go with his five tackles.
Tegray Scales, LB, Indiana - It was business as usual for Scales with eight tackles including a half a sack. It wasn’t enough for the win, but Scales continues to show week in and week out why he’s one of the Big Ten and nation’s best linebackers.
Darnell Savage Jr., DB, Maryland - The Maryland defense has struggled much of the season and yesterday wasn’t much of an exception, but Savage had a momentum swinging interception early in addition to four tackles.
Special Team Performance
After it seemed like this season IU had shored up the third phase of the game the Hoosiers struggled on special teams. Haydon Whitehead had four punts that landed inside the 20, but the Hoosiers shot themselves in the foot both early and late in this one.
Whitehead had a punt blocked in the second quarter that was taken back for a touchdown. Then in the fourth quarter Griffin Oakes had an extra point blocked.. This made it so that if IU would have gotten in field goal range late, they would have only been able to tie and not take the lead on a field goal try. Oakes also booted two kickoffs out of bounds setting up Maryland with great field position. IU also allowed an 82-yard return that set up the go ahead score for Maryland. The special teams mistakes add up and played a big role in this contest.
Key Stat(s)
36:08
The Hoosiers had the ball for nearly 40 minutes and nearly doubled Maryland in the amount of first downs, 35 to 18. Despite all that plus out gaining Maryland by more than 100 yards, the Hoosiers lost the game. Not only that, but they trailed late as well. A poor defensive performance and bad special teams wasted a solid offensive outing.
Turning Point
Indiana seemingly dominated in the first half. They quickly got up 14-0 in the first six minutes and led by nine with under four minutes left in the first half. Maryland responded with a quick 65-yard drive in just four plays. Indiana followed that up with a quick 3 and out that only took 1:09 off the clock and Maryland again scored a touchdown to end the half on a six play 50-yard drive in less than a minute. Indiana retook the lead at points in the second half, but it felt like a half wasted for IU, to lead the entire way, have all the stats go their way but trail by two. Indicative of the tone of the game.
I Knew it Was Over When…
Frankly this one wasn’t really over until well, it was over. Richard Lagow played well in key spots down the stretch, but the nail in the coffin was on the Hoosiers last drive when Whop Philyor dropped a pass on 3rd and 10 that would’ve given the Hoosiers a first down in Maryland territory with two minutes to go. The Hoosiers then had 4th and 10 and failed to convert.
Players of the Game
Simmie Cobbs, Indiana- Despite two quarterbacks and no running game Cobbs went for over 100 yards and caught a touchdown from each of his QB’s. Cobbs finished with 10 catches for 138 yards and the two scores.
Ty Johnson, Maryland- He may not have and any of the three rushing touchdowns yesterday, but Johnson had a strong game with 91 yards on just 13 carries. Averaging nearly seven yards a carry, Johnson gave the Hoosiers defense problems, as many running backs in the Big Ten have.
What I took away from the game
There’s no way around that this was a demoralizing loss. After playing the four best teams in the Big Ten to start their conference schedule, all Top 25 teams, this was seen as a break for Indiana. The Hoosiers learned the hard way there are no easy wins in the Big Ten as they lost to a team on their third string quarterback who had the worst defense in the conference.
The quarterback play was encouraging, but Indiana has really put themselves behind the eight-ball going forward. They’ll need to win three of their last four games. Two of those are on the road and next week they have undefeated Wisconsin back in Bloomington. Indiana will need to shore up their special teams and find some level of consistency through the last four games. If the Hoosiers fail to reach six wins this loss will likely be looked as a big step back for the program after great efforts against Michigan and Michigan State.