What Worked and What Didn't in Indiana's Rain Soaked WIn Against Virginia
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Stevie Scott had a big night against Virginia Image: Indiana Athletics.
Written By Lauralys Shallow
IU defeated Virginia 20-16 in its home opener, and the weather in Bloomington was atrocious. Last week against FIU, both redshirt sophomore Peyton Ramsey and freshman Michael Penix saw time under center, but only Ramsey was utilized against Virginia. Despite one bad interception in the third, Ramsey played well, throwing 16-22 for 150 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.
On the defensive side of the ball, IU did a much better job this week of containing the run. Virginia’s tandem of quarterback Bryce Perkins and running back Jordan Ellis can wreak havoc on the ground, but IU was able to limit Ellis to 63 yards. In typical IU fashion, the score shouldn’t have been as close as it was, but IU won. Now, we are going to take a look at what went well for IU and what needs work.
What Worked?
Stevie Scott had a monster game for IU, ripping two runs for at least 40 yards. The true freshman rushed for 224 yards and 1 touchdown, averaging 6.6 yards per run. On IU’s first possession, Scott darted through the hole up the middle created by the offensive line for a 40-yard touchdown to answer UVA’s touchdown.
The tailback had a booming 42-yard run to open up the second half. During that run, Scott became the 12th true freshman in program history to have 100 yards rushing in a single game. Scott followed that big run with two more carries to put IU on the 25-yard line. Unfortunately, IU would go on to miss a field goal, but Scott’s two big carries on IU’s first drives of both halves were huge for IU. Scott has tremendous speed for his 6’2, 236 pound frame, and it looks like IU has found a solid running back after losing Morgan Ellison and Cole Gest. Head coach Tom Allen said after the game about Scott’s performance, “You grow up really fast, when you’re forced to.”
What Didn’t?
The kicking unit was extremely subpar, missing a field goal and a PAT. After IU forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff after its first touchdown, IU started on UVA’s 22 and Ramsey found senior Donovan Hale for the score. Instead of going up 14-7, the PAT was blocked, and the Cavaliers converted on a 2-point conversion to make the score 13-9.
The kicking unit struggled again in the third quarter when Logan Justus’s 41-yard field goal attempt was blocked. IU had a solid drive to start the half thanks to Scott, and instead of capitalizing, IU left 3 points on the table. The block shifted the momentum, and UVA scored on the following drive to keep the game close at 20-16.
On both missed kicks, UVA came away with points that kept them in the game. IU will not come away with wins in close games down the stretch in conference play if the kicking unit makes the mistakes it did tonight. IU will make adjustments and work to eliminate those mistakes, and the conditions tonight did not make it any easier on the kicking unit.