Week One Inside the Numbers: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Ball State

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Written by Andrew Walker

In preparation for Indiana Football’s first game of the 2019 season against Ball State, let’s take a dive inside the numbers and list a few of each team’s most interesting stats from last year. 

Red zone success

  • Indiana - 56.82% of the time, the Hoosiers were able to score a TD when they were in the red zone. New starting QB Mike Penix’s ability to scramble and make plays out of nothing could be the key to raising this percentage drastically this season. 

  • Ball State - 66.67% of each trip to the red zone resulted in a TD for the Cardinals. Look for this percentage to stay high this season behind a veteran offensive line that really knows how to protect their QB. 

Takeaways

  • Indiana - The Hoosiers were able to secure 26 total takeaways in 2018. 13 from interceptions and 13 from fumble recoveries. Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack has said this defense is communicating better and playing faster than expected at this point in the season, so look for them to make big strides in the takeaways category this season. 

  • Ball State - 18 total turnovers went in favor of the Cardinals in 2018. The defense was able to grab 12 interceptions and six fumble recoveries. Ball State is returning nine defensive starters from last year, and with them comes an impressively low average of only 210 passing yards allowed per game. 

Havoc plays on defense

  • Indiana - In addition to the takeaways, the Hoosiers forced 22 fumbles, made 69 TFL, had 22 sacks and 33 PBU. Indiana’s defensive ability, especially in the blitz is looking better than ever with the likes of Marcelino Ball and Reakwon Jones. 

  • Ball State - The Cardinals had 65 TFL, 30 PBU, 20 sacks, along with 10 forced fumbles for 2018. Along with those nine starters returning for the Cardinals, Ray Wilborn and Christian Albright are two LB’s that can really give the Hoosiers and everyone they play a ton of trouble on the pass rush.