Game Wrap-up & Reaction: Week 2 Navy

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@sammyj108) 

Let’s take a step back from the ledge and take
this game for what it is.  One
loss, that’s all it is.  The
Hoosiers reverted back to their 2012 form when it came to getting off to a slow
start in a 41-35 loss to the Navy Midshipmen.  While the loss hurts, the season is not over and the
Hoosiers still have a good shot at going to a bowl.

Opponent: Navy Midshipmen

Location: Saturday September 7th  /6pm/ Memorial Stadium/ (Bloomington, Indiana) 

Why They
Played:  This game was the second in a home-and-home series between the
Mids and the Hoosiers.  Navy is a
brand name and brought a great crowd with them to create a festive atmosphere
where the Indiana Athletic Department dedicated the prow of the USS Indiana and
the new flagpole inside Memorial Stadium.

What The
Game Meant:

The Hoosiers were trying to build off of the
73-point performance and victory over Indiana State to get to 2-0.  For only the second time ever the
Hoosiers host eight games, making this game, against a team Indiana was favored
by two touchdowns, very important in the quest to make a bowl game.

Top
Offensive Performers:

Nate
Sudfeld, QB, Indiana – Sudfeld entered the game in relief for an
ineffective Tre Roberson and almost completed the comeback for the
Hoosiers.  The sophomore signal
caller threw for 363 yards and four touchdowns.  Even though Sudfeld had one poor throw that went for an
interception, he was very good. 
Sudfeld also lead the Hoosiers in rushing with 35 yards.

Keenan Reynolds,
QB, Navy- The leader of the Navy attack showed loads of talent and even
more heart.  Reynolds rushed for
127 yards and three scores, he even was an effective passer throwing for 71
yards on four attempts.  Late in
the game, when the Hoosiers had chances to make a big stop on defense, Reynolds
willed his way to multiple huge first downs that ultimately doomed to Hoosiers.

Top
Defensive Performers

 Indiana- The
Hoosiers’ defense was putrid in stopping the Navy triple option.  The other stop they had came on a
missed field goal and just could not get off the field when they needed to.  The Hoosiers might have pulled this one
out had the defense put up just one more stop.

Chris Johnson,
LB, Navy- Johnson came up with the only turnover for both teams with an
interception of a Sudfeld pass and it proved to be the difference in the
game.  The linebacker also added five
tackles in a game that lacked much defense.

Special
Team Performance:

The special teams performance against Navy was,
well nothing really special.  That
is not saying it was bad however. 
Kicker Mitch Ewald became the career leader for PATs for the Hoosiers as
he converted on all five attempts. 
Erich Toth had a weird night as he punted only once for 56 yards.  While that may look like a monster
punt, he also benefited from a great roll.  The biggest issue for the Hoosiers came in the return game.  This is an area that Indiana should
have had an advantage, yet they couldn’t get anything going to gain better
field position.

 Key
Stat: 

6.3

This was the average yards per rush for the
Navy offense.  It could have been
higher if they did not get bogged down close to the goal line a few times.  The Hoosiers just did not have an
answer for the triple option as two different runners broke 100 yards rushing
and a third finished with 97.  The
rushing attack limited Indiana to just eight possessions and was the difference
between a win and the loss for the Hoosiers.

Turning
Point-

There were two turning points, weird, but there
was.  The first came on Indiana’s
second drive when Kevin Wilson decided to go for it from his own 38-yard line
and was stuffed on a running play. 
This gave Navy a very short field, which they took advantage of and
turned into a 14-0 advantage.  The
second turning point was the Nate Sudfeld interception.  Indiana seemed posed to get back into
the game as they drove down to the Navy 12-yard line, instead Navy took the
errant pass and turned it into three points for a 17-0 lead.  Indiana would never recover even though
they cut the Navy lead to just six at the end of the game. 

I Knew it
was over when…

There were several times that this game looked
to be over early in the second half, but to their credit the Hoosiers never
gave up and fought until the end, narrowly missing a shot to have the ball back
with less than a minute left.  The
game was finally over when Cody Latimer was ruled out of bounds while trying to
recover an almost perfect onside kick from Mitch Ewald.  The kick really was a thing of beauty,
but Latimer could not corral the ball before he slid out of bounds and Navy
could just take a knee after that.

Players of
the Game

Indiana– Nate
Sudfeld, Quarterback- In everyone’s opinion, except the one that
matters, Sudfeld shut the door on the quarterback competition.  Aside from one poor throw, the
sophomore was great in trying to lead a Hoosier comeback.  He also was not awful on his feet as he
lead the Hoosiers in rushing as well. 
Unless there is a tactical reason to why Wilson won’t name a starting
quarterback early in the week, it should be announced that Sudfeld won the
job.  Otherwise Hoosier Nation and
the media will have to keep an eye on twitter to find out who is starting under
center Saturday afternoon.

Navy– Keenan Reynolds, Quarterback- What an
impressive performance from this young man, as he totaled 127 rushing yards and
three touchdowns, and let’s not forget the 71 yards passing.  Reynolds made every big play that his
team needed and showed a toughness that is hard to match.

What I took
away from the game

Yes, this was a crushing loss to a team Indiana
should probably beat at home, but by no means is it the end of the season.  Indiana’s defense has nowhere to go but
up from this performance.  Navy is
rarely a good match-up for any team, but a team with a young inexperienced
defense it is deadly.  There were
some positives to take away from the game however.  The quarterback discussion SHOULD be over as Nate Sudfeld
out played Tre Roberson again.  In
addition the reemergence of Ted Bolser as a consistent playmaker
continues.  There are a couple of
aspects that are concerning about the offense.  First, the running game was nowhere to be found against
Navy.  Indiana tried to establish
the run early in order to open up the big pass play, but had it backfire as the
offense went scoreless in the first quarter.  Secondly, there were too many dropped passes that should
have gone for easy catches.  Kofi
Hughes, who is normally as sure handed as any receiver on the team, dropped two
passes in the end zone.  While the
Hoosiers did end up scoring the next play or a few plays after it did cost them
some precious seconds off the clock, which they could have used at the end of the
game.  Overall, the defensive
effort needs to be astronomically better, the offense needs to start quicker,
and the kick return game needs to be a spot where the Hoosiers can gain an
advantage.  Luckly, the Hoosiers
will not have to face Navy again for a long time and do not play another triple
option team this season.