Game Wrap and Reaction: Maryland 44 Indiana 17

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

Opponent: Maryland Terrapins

Location: College Park, Maryland

Why They Played: The Hoosiers and Terrapins play annually as members of the Big Ten East.

What The Game Meant: This was a temperature check game for Indiana. A game that could’ve have eased some worries after a narrow win over Akron. However, the way IU lost is possibly going to ignite some changes. 

Top Offensive Performers

Donaven McCulley, WR, Indiana- McCulley played through an injury and made six catches for 79 yards including a touchdown.

Taulia Tagovailoa, QB, Maryland- Tagovailoa had the most productive game of his career as he accounted for six touchdowns (five passing, one rushing). He took care of the ball and completed 24-of-34 passes for 352 yards.

Ty Felton, WR, Maryland- Felton was the beneficiary of many of those passes as he scored three touchdowns and made seven catches for 134 yards.

Top Defensive Performers

Indiana- None- The IU defense was gashed early and often as Maryland neutralized Aaron Casey and Andre Carter while picking apart Indiana’s secondary.

Tarheeb Still, DB, Maryland- Still made six tackles and one for a loss to lead the Terps.

Caleb Wheathead, LB, Maryland- Wheathead made two tackles for loss and had a sack for Maryland.

Special Team Performance

This may have been the special teams’ worst performance of the season expect for Chris Freeman who made a field goal and both extra points while booming four touchbacks on kickoffs.

Jaylin Lucas got IU kick started with a long return after Maryland’s opening touchdown, but was benched from punt return duties after muffing one punt and finishing with minus-eight yards.

James Evans and the punt team failed to flip field position for most of the day as he averaged just 36.6 yards per punt. A kick catch interference penalty and a long punt return set up Maryland inside IU’s 30-yard line twice and essentially put the game away. Also, IU’s fake punt was short of a first down in a desperate try to spark the offense.

Key Stat(s)

6 for 210 and 4

Maryland had six explosive passing plays that totalled 210 yards. That was the difference in the game and why Maryland won while losing the time of possession (an overrated stat). Maryland also started on Indiana’s side of the field FOUR times, making it easier for the Terps to put up points.

Turning Point

When IU went three-and-out at their own 10-yard line trailing 7-3 after forcing a MAryland punt. The next two Maryland drives started inside the IU 30-yard line and resulted in a quick 21-3 hole that was unrecoverable.

I Knew it Was Over When…

When Maryland went up 21-3. It was over. IU just doesn’t have the wherewithal to score 20+ points against Big Ten competition right now.

Players of the Game

Donaven McCulley, Indiana- A gusty performance after being listed as questionable for Saturday.

Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland- Tagovailoa may be the best quarterback in the Big Ten, but he will get his chance against Ohio State next week in Columbus.

What I took away from the game

This was a bad loss for IU following an ugly win where the team looked disinterested and lost. Tayven Jackson was so ineffective that he was benched in the second half for Brendan Sorsby who performed well. In the last 12 quarters of football, Jackson has underperformed in 9 of them and benched for the other one.

The defense, which looked to be better over the first three weeks, has sprung leaks. Maryland did whatever they wanted on Saturday with relative ease.The special teams unit was putrid outside of Chris Freeman.

As Hoosier Nation loves to say,”We have seen this movie before.” We’ll IU got started early on Spooky Season and it’s more tricks than treats.

This may be the beginning of the actual end for the Tom Allen era of Indiana football and apathy has started to settle in over the fan base. IU enters the bye week with some serious questions to consider and if there is going to be a major shake up, this is the week to do it.

I have been patient, maybe to the point of fault, but all signs pointed to Allen not being on the super hot seat this season. That feeling has changed as the last two weeks have shown a team that is on their way to checking out.

The Hoosiers are now 2-18 over their last 20 Big Ten games, apathy is settling in and the way forward under this staff is becoming more and more impassable. IU gets Michigan out of the bye week and is looking at a homecoming date with Rutgers at 2-4 (0-3) while being dead in the water. 

What’s Next

Indiana will enter their bye week with a 2-3 (0-2) record before heading to Michigan on October 14th,