Game Wrap and Reaction: No. 17 Indiana 37 Rutgers 21
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Image: Indiana University Athletics
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Opponent: Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Location: Saturday, October 31, 2020
Why They Played: The Hoosiers travelled to Piscataway to face fellow Big Ten East member Rutgers.
What The Game Meant: Indiana received all the praise last week after beating Penn State. Could they re-focus and avoid a letdown? That was the big questions for the 17th ranked Hoosiers.
Top Offensive Performers:
Michael Penix, QB, Indiana-Penix was much crisper in week two. Drops hurt his early numbers, but he got hot later in the game and finished completing 17-of-26 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. Penix also added 20 yards rushing and another score.
Whop Philyor, WR, Indiana- Philyor loves playing Rutgers as he put up another 100-yard performance. He made five catches for 137 yards in his first big game of 2020.
Bo Melton, WR, Rutgers- Melton reached the end zone twice for Rutgers and made five catches for 50 yards. He was clearly Rutgers most consistent offensive threat.
Top Defensive Performers
The Indiana Secondary- The entire Indiana secondary played lights out on Saturday. Combined they made 34 tackles and six tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks from corner Tiawan Mullen. They also accounted for an interception. It wasn’t just one or two players doing the work either. Indiana’s depth was on display as eight players contributed to those numbers.
Olakunle Fatukasi, LB, Rutgers- Fatukasi paced the Scarlet Knight defense with 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
Special Team Performance
It was another solid special teams performance for the Hoosiers. Charles Campbell continued his stellar performance with another three field goals and four extra points.
Outside of one long return, the kickoff coverage team made Aron Cruickshank pay for not fair catching kickoffs. The other issue for this unit was the ability to recover an onside kick. The Hoosiers were prepared for both attempts, but were bailed out by a time out when the ball bounced off of Matt Bjorson’s chest on one while the other was recovered by Rutgers as the Hoosiers failed to put a body on the Rutgers player who recovered the kick.
Haydon Whitehead was impressive, as he punted both left and right footed on Saturday. He had a net average of 37.2 yards per punt and pinned Rutgers inside their own 20-yard line once while forcing three fair catches on five punts.
With David Ellis still out, Jacolby Hewitt handled kick return duties. He had two chances and gained a total of 30 yards, with a long of 21. While Reese Taylor had a negative-one yard total punt returns, he was reliable and caught several punts in traffic.
Key Stat(s)
Six
The Hoosiers ended six Rutgers drives with either a takeaway of a turnover on downs. Any possession that does not end with a kick for the opponent is a great one. The Hoosiers scored 17 points off of Rutgers three interceptions as well.
Turning Point
The turning point was more a series of points than one play. The Hoosiers forced interceptions on back-to-back plays in the second quarter that resulted in two Indiana touchdowns and a 20-7 Hoosier lead which they never relinquished.
I Knew it Was Over When…
Rutgers absurd eight-lateral touchdown on fourth-and-32 was called back after one of the laterals was deemed to be a forward pass.
Players of the Game
Indiana’s Secondary- The numbers speak for themselves. 34 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and a pick. Have yourself a night defensive backs.
Bo Melton, Rutgers- Melton hit pay dirt twice for the Hoosiers and almost a third time had it not been for an illegal forward pass on the eight-lateral desperation play.
What I took away from the game
The big question heading into this game was how would Indiana react to all the praise they received after knocking off Penn State. After a slow start offensively, they acquitted themselves well. Anchored by the defense, the Hoosier offense finally awoke in the second quarter and outscored Rutgers 34-14 over the final 45 minutes.
It was far from a perfect performance however. The Hoosiers had 11 penalties for 119 yards, two of which were directly responsible for Rutgers being able to put points on the board. It’s an area that will be addressed heading into next week’s game against Michigan.
People will get caught up on that this was only Rutgers and IU only won by 14 points, but this was not last year’s Rutgers team and a 14-point road win in the Big Ten.
The biggest concern coming out of this game is the performance of the offensive line, the left side in particular. The Hoosiers have to figure out whether they have to reshuffle things around, or just hope that the current group can gel and improve.
It seemed like the Hoosier offense found their rhythm in the second half as Penix started making plays down field and it opened up some room on the ground for Stevie Scott and Sampson James.
The Hoosiers could be ranked ahead, and maybe even favored, against Michigan next week. The Hoosiers will once again have to respond to success. The Hoosiers will have a chance to check off another box as they are currently on a 24-game losing streak to the Wolverines. They will have to come out and play a cleaner game to end the losing streak though. 11 penalties for 119 yards and a 2-for-11 performance on third down is not a great combination to beat a Michigan team that is desperate for a win.