Game Wrap and Reaction: Indiana 35 Idaho 22
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Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Opponent: Idaho Vandals
Location: Bloomington, Indiana
Why They Played: The Hoosiers and Vandals met for the second-straight-year as part of a two-game series.
What The Game Meant: This was supposed to be a ‘get right’ game for Indiana, but an improved Idaho team and a dismal first half turned it into a come-from-behind 13-point win for IU.
Top Offensive Performers
Shaun Shivers, RB, Indiana- After a quiet week one Shivers had his break out game for the Hoosiers. He ran the ball 20 times for 155 yards and a touchdown.
AJ Barner, TE, Indiana-Barner had his own highlight play with a 43-yard catch-and-run touchdown. He finished with three catches and 57 yards.
Gevani McCoy, QB, Idaho- McCoy gave IU issues with his speed most of the night. He completed just 13 passes, but they went for 204 yards and three touchdowns.
Top Defensive Performers
Dasan McCullough, OLB, Indiana- The true freshman had a monster night as he registered five tackles and two sacks.
Aaron Casey, LB, Indiana- Aaron Casey had another nice night collecting six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Fa’Avae Fa’Avae, LB, Idaho- Fa’Avae led the Vandals with 12 tackles.
Special Team Performance
On a tough weather night, the special teams had an up and down game. In the first half IU kicker Charles Campbell missed a short field goal and had another miss wiped off the board because of a penalty on Idaho. However, he went on to hit three extra points.
James only punted twice and averaged 52 yards per punt. The punt coverage team had a break down on one of those returns yielding a 27-yard return to Jermaine Jackson.
The Hoosiers needed a spark at the end of the first half and got one from Jaylin Lucas who returned his only kickoff 38 yards. Idaho did have two kicks go out of bounds, not including two onside attempts that went out of bounds.
Key Stat(s)
29
The Hoosiers scored 29-straight points in the second half, turning what could have been a disastrous loss into a win.
Turning Point
Indiana’s first drive out of half time. The Hoosiers first play of the second half was a 31-yard run by Shaun Shivers and the drive was capped off with four-yard Donaven McCulley touchdown run.
I Knew it Was Over When…
IU got the ball back with 5:51 left in the fourth quarter. They would go on to run out the clock.
Players of the Game
Dasan McCullough- His two sacks were huge and he constantly was making plays and showing that he was, at times, the most talented player on the field.
Gevani McCoy, Idaho- McCoy accounted for all three Vandals touchdown. He’s just a freshman, but he will put a scare into a lot of teams in the future.
What I took away from the game
The Hoosiers saved their season with a 35-point second half. A loss to Idaho would have wiped out all of the momentum from a week one win over Illinois.
The first half was brutal, and may be the worst half IU has played in my 20 years of watching them. It was self-inflicted wounds. A procedure penalty on Tim Weaver caused IU to go three-and-out on the first drive and then the Hoosiers failed to score any points on two trips into the red zone. IU trailed 10-0 at half and the season looked like it was in jeopardy.
Whatever was said at half time, worked. IU scored 29-straight points and walked out of Memorial Stadium with a 35-22 win on a day that saw three top-ten teams lose and many other upsets occurred around the country.
Did the Hoosiers play their best game? Not by a long shot. The second half was about as good as they looked since the first 25 minutes of the Cincinnati game last season, however. It’s a heck of a lot easier to learn these lessons with a win than a loss.
I won’t beat a dead horse, but IU is 2-0 with a chance to go 3-0 next week against Western Kentucky. Are there things that need to be cleaned up? Absolutely. Just like every other 2-0 team in the country.