Rutgers Trounces Inept Hoosiers 38-3 in Bloomington

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

A season with high expectations has well and truly hit rock bottom as the Indiana Hoosiers fell to 2-8 with a woeful 38-3 home loss to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-5). Indiana came into the contest looking for their first Big Ten victory but the contest began on a sour note and continued spiraling out of control from there. Donaven McCulley and Jack Tuttle both played at quarterback but neither found any traction as the offense floundered and never threatened the Rutgers defense. In fact, IU’s offense did more harm than good. The Hoosiers turned the ball over six times, often setting the Scarlet Knights up with terrific field position. IU also turned it over twice on downs. In total, Rutgers had 320 yards on offense but was very efficient and converted the opportunities given to them by IU’s looseness with the ball. Indiana’s offense has struggled all season and today might have been the worst of a group of toothless performances. IU managed only 262 yards and failed to find the end zone yet again.

The Hoosiers had the ball first and true freshman Donaven McCulley took the first snap. He attempted to fake a hand-off to Davion Ervin-Poindexter but the ball fell to the turf, resulting in the first turnover of the day. A few plays later, Isaih Pacheco ran into the end zone to open the scoring and make it 7-0. IU responded with a nice return from David Holloman and a decent drive that set up a 35-yard field goal for Charles Campbell. The usually reliable kicker missed it to the left and IU remained scoreless. The Rutgers offense was forced into a punt without a first down on the ensuing drive and Jack Tuttle entered the game for IU. The redshirt junior did not spark anything positive on offense and the Hoosiers went three and out. Rutgers quickly marched into the red zone and Isaih Pacheco found the end zone for the second time, making it 14-0. The teams then traded three and outs. On IU’s next possession, Jack Tuttle threw the ball right to a Rutgers defender, giving the away team the ball at the Indiana 24-yard line. Indiana’s defense did what they could in that situation, forcing a field goal that was put in by Mario Ambrosio. With the score at 17-0 and IU’s offense continuing to find absolutely no success, things looked bleak for the Hoosiers. Jack Tuttle got a first down on a scramble but threw it deep and was intercepted by Max Melton on the three-yard line. The teams traded punts in a lackluster second quarter until the Hoosiers had a fourth down attempt near midfield. The snap was low and mishandled by McCulley and Rutgers recovered. It was IU’s fourth turnover of the game. IU forced another punt and took over at the ten-yard line with 57 seconds left. Donaven McCulley connected with Ty Fryfogle for a 46-yard gain and Charles Campbell hit a 47-yard field goal right before the end of the half to get IU on the board at 17-3.

Rutgers got the ball to start the second half and the IU defense kept the Hoosiers in the game, forcing a punt by stuffing a third and short attempt. However, Ty Fryfogle dropped the punt and Rutgers came out of the scrum with the ball. The next play was an Aaron Young touchdown from ten yards out, effectively ending this contest. Indiana was unable to convert on fourth and short as Donaven McCulley was swarmed by Rutgers defenders and Noah Vedral completed a pass to offensive lineman Raiqwon O’Neal for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 31-3. IU’s offense continued to fail to accomplish anything, struggling to block and failing to move the ball with any type of consistency. Rutgers moved the ball on the ground, converted a fourth down and Noah Vedral dove into the end zone for one more score, making it 38-3. IU turned it over one more time as Miles Marshall fumbled the ball around midfield. It was a fitting end to the day. The Hoosiers play host to Minnesota next Saturday but all eyes will now turn to the if and when there are coaching changes made as a response to this showing. Hoosier Huddle will have ongoing coverage of the fallout from a season that has gone way off the rails.