Game Wrap and Reaction: Iowa 42 Indiana 16

The Hoosiers fell 42-16 to Iowa on Saturday Image: Hawkeyesports.com

Written By Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle) 

Opponent: Iowa Hawkeyes

Location: Saturday October136th, 2018 Bloomington, IN

Why They Played: The Hoosiers and Hawkeyes met for the first time since 2015 in a cross-divisional match up

What The Game Meant: Homecoming is always a special game in college football. With many eyes on IU football, it was a chance to prove it wasn’t “same ol’ story”. However, the Hoosiers laid an egg and put their bowl hopes in jeopardy with the level of performance.

Top Offensive Performers:

Ty Fryfogle, WR, Indiana- Fryfogle has had a nice season for the Hoosiers and Saturday was his best game of the year. He made four catches for 71 yards including a fantastic touchdown catch.

Nate Stanley, QB, Iowa- Stanley was really impressive Saturday throwing for six touchdowns and 320 yards on just 33 pass attempts. He used his big frame to break tackles and chuck the ball down field.

Iowa Tight Ends- Noah Fant (4 rec. 101 yards 1 TD) and T.J. Hockenson (4 rec. 107 yards 2 TDs) ate the Hoosiers alive. Nobody could guard them and many times were wide open.

Top Defensive Performers

 Jerome Johnson, DT, Indiana- One of the few defenders to show up for IU Saturday, Johnson made five tackles and had two for a loss.

Jake Gervase, FS, Iowa- The big safety made his mark on Saturday as he made eight tackles (six solo) and picked off a pass.

Parker Hesse, DE, Iowa- The defensive end made life miserable for IU’s offense. He made seven tackles (six solo) and had two tackles for loss.

Special Teams Performance

IU’s special teams unit has gone from strength-to-troublesome in 2018. The Hoosiers let up two big kick returns that changed the tenure of the game. First, after cutting Iowa’s lead to 14-10 and having some life, the Hoosiers looked to have had Ihmir Smith-Marsette bottled up after he bobbled a kick, however a missed tackle and breakdowns lead to a 60-yard return that set up an Iowa touchdown. To start the second half, IU once again had him pinned inside the 20, but that play was negated because of an offsides.

Haydon Whitehead punted well and Logan Justus hit a field goal and an extra point, while Mike Majette returned his lone kick off for 18 yards. IU has been fair catching kicks for touchbacks since their return unit has not been a threat to break loose since Shane Wynn was still returning kicks.

​Key Stat(s)

Six

For the second week in a row the Hoosiers surrendered six touchdown passes to the opposing quarterback. The defense did not even give IU a chance in this one.

Turning Point

The turning point was early on. It seemed like everything unraveled when Jonathan Crawford’s interception with IU leading 3-0 was called back for pass interference. An IU assistant coach was called for unsportsmanlike conduct as well on that play for arguing with an official and Iowa would go on to score and not look back. The 60-yard kick return setting up Iowa’s third touchdown was also a momentum changer.

I Knew it Was Over When…

Iowa took a 28-10 lead right out of halftime. The Hoosiers looked out of it the first half and didn’t seem all that inspired after halftime as they were offsides on the kick to start the half.

Players of the Game

Ty Fryfogle, Indiana- There wasn’t much to get excited about as a Hoosier fan, but Fryfogle is a nice piece for the future.

Nate Stanley, Iowa- Six touchdown passes says it all. He had all day to throw and when he was under pressure he stepped out of tackles.  

What I took away from the game

There is no sugar coating this one for the Hoosiers. This was a total disaster in all facets of the game. The offense reverted back to dink-and-dunk, the defense was burnt and bullied around all afternoon and special teams looked unfocused while the coaching staff lost its composure.

This was a big game for IU, a chance to take a step forward. Instead it was two big steps back. The Hoosiers came out and took an early lead, moving the ball decently on offense getting a field goal. The defense, even though it was carved up, looked to have an early takeaway, but had it wiped off the board. After that it was like nobody in cream and crimson was interested in making competitive plays.

The Hoosiers folded up camp in front of a small homecoming crowd, the announced attendance was 40,512 (which means it was really 30,000). Having homecoming kickoff at noon against a quality opponent and charging $70 a seat really didn’t work for the IU athletic department Saturday, more on that later this week. IU took one real shot down field, a 33-yard score to Fryfogle, but other than that it was back to the same frustrating offense that has fans clamoring for offensive coordinator Mike DeBord’s job. While Peyton Ramsey only threw 11 incompletions on the day, two of those were costly interceptions. He finished an efficient, but ineffective 31-of-42 for 263 yards. His 6.2 yards per completion are right around his season average. While some may drool over his completion percentage, miss the fact that a lot of his short throws do not give the receiver a chance to make a play since it takes a long time to get to the target. The Indiana skill positions are really good, but they can’t make plays when the ball and the defender arrive at the same time.

The most disappointing aspect of the offense in Big Ten play has been the lack of a consistent run game and offensive line play. The Hoosiers were without Coy Cronk, an All-Big Ten caliber tackle against Iowa and it hurt. The Hoosiers ran just 25 times for 67 yards. All offseason we heard that these Hoosiers were bigger, faster, stronger and while it sure looked that way in fall camp, the results haven’t transferred to success on the field.

The poor play wasn’t limited to the offense. The Hoosier defense, the foundation on which Tom Allen is building this program, fell apart on Saturday. It’s one thing to give up 609 yards of offense to Ohio State in Columbus. It’s another to allow Iowa to score at will at home. The Hoosiers defense was bad, like Brian Knorr bad, on Saturday. There were missed tackles, untimely penalties and just an overall lack of focus and execution. First down defense continues to be an issue as IU set up Iowa with manageable second and third downs all day.

Overall, Saturday was a step back for the Hoosiers. They lacked the mental fortitude to overcome bad calls and made the mistakes that good teams just don’t make at home. Was the moment again too big for IU? I have no clue, but it sure seemed that way. Can the Hoosiers recover and salvage the season? Time will tell.

What’s Next

Next up for the Hoosiers is a visit from an angry Penn State team who fell at home to Michigan State this weekend. The game will kick off at 3:30.