Indiana Football Stock Market Report: Week One: Indiana State

Written by Lloyd Ribner III (@Ribner3) 

The Hoosiers celebrated early and often in Week One as they set a Memorial Stadium Record, 73-points.

Welcome to the inaugural Indiana Stock Market Report. While the Hoosier brand is not one of the gold standards in college football, we feel as if it is one that you can buy low on at the start of the season and see it pay out strong by the end of the season. With a diversified portfolio ranging from platinum level offense to a penny stock defense, we feel Indiana football should be a strong “buy” throughout the fall and winter months. This is largely due to the diversified portfolio, which we have developed for you, our savvy Hoosier Stock Market investor.

In 2012 the Indiana Hoosiers were a below average team, who displayed flashes of potential. I believe the most frustrating thing for IU fans was to watch competent offensive performances be completely wasted by a defense that was barley MAC-worthy.

While the Hoosiers were able to pull out a victory in week one, we saw much of the same in their home opener on Thursday night. A monstrous offensive output, combined with a lackluster defensive performance. While not the same team as last year, there were still plenty of reasons to be concerned moving forward.

Even though we saw a 38-point victory, while witnessing some very encouraging things, we also saw some things that could go from that didn’t look great, to holy crap that’s a big freakin’ problem, in the coming weeks.

Your Stock Market Report of Very Little Defensive Effort Follows:

Blue Chip Stocks:

Tevin Coleman, RB: Kevin Wilson has proclaimed that Tevin Coleman could be an NFL running back, well the sophomore out of the state of Illinois showed why his head coach felt that way. He had an absolutely monstrous performance as he rushed for 169 yards on 14 carries, good enough for an average of 12.1 yards per attempt. He was also able to score twice, including an explosive 34-yard run that finished in the end zone in the first quarter. Coleman showed why he was at the top of the depth chart in the backfield in to start the season.

Nate Sudfeld, QB: You might be saying, wait, he didn’t even start the game, and you would be right. However, of the trio, Sudfeld was the one who impressed the most. He reprised the role he played so well last season, the quarterback who lights it up off the bench. The California sophomore completed 12 of his 17 passed for 219 yards. Coffman didn’t just do it in the middle of the field either as he tossed 4 touchdown passes on the day. While the coaching staff may continue to play all three quarterbacks in week two, it is pretty obvious that the talent gap between Sudfeld and Coffman is wide and that the former should be the “pocket passer” in the competition against the more mobile Roberson.

Solid Investments:

Tre Roberson, RB: First and foremost let’s remember that this was essentially Roberson’s first game in a year. He showed his rust a bit on his incompletions, but there weren’t all that many has he completed 3 of the 6 passes he threw. Maybe most impressive was the fact that two of those completions went for touchdowns. On the other hand Roberson didn’t do all that much rushing the ball in week one, which was to be expected coming off of his knee injury. While he was able to scamper for an 8 yards gain, the fact remains that on his other four were only good enough for an average of just 2.7 yards per carry. Roberson is clearly still in the mix along with Sudfield to be the Hoosiers quarterback, and Thursday night did nothing to hinder that.

Underclassman: Kevin Wilson has gone out and changed the face of this program. He has no problem playing a young guy if he truly deserves the spot and is more talented than the more veteran player at that position. That has come to fruition already in week one. We have already discussed two quarterbacks Nate Sudfeld and Tre Roberson who are just sophomores, as far as football is concerned at least, and running back Tevin Coleman who also is in his second year. The next three most productive rushers in week one were also underclassman as sophomore Anthony Davis was a good second option in the backfield, and freshman Andrew Wilson and Laray Smith both showed they are more than capable of toting the rock. Defensively the true freshman showed just why they were so highly touted. Defensive Back Antonio Allen recovered a fumble while Darius Latham showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with for years in the Big Ten.

Junk Bonds:

Cameron Coffman, QB: While it is hard to get on a player who was right up at the top of the conference last year in just about every passing category, especially when he took over after an injury to your starter. However, as the two other quarterbacks took a step forward, it looked as if Coffman had taken a step back. He completed just 2 of his 7 passes for 29 yards, and he was picked off to boot. Although the biggest difference came when you look at the trio’s yards per attempt as both Sudfeld (12.9) and Roberson (11.8) basically tripled Coffman’s production (4.1).

Ball Security: One thing we all need to come to terms with as human beings that watch Indiana football, outside of the fact that we have a severe mental illness, is that part of the problem regarding certain statistics is the amount of plays that the Hoosiers run, and the tempo at which they run them. Three turnovers to an FCS opponent, however, are completely unacceptable. Two of them, a fumble and an interception were returned for touchdowns directly leading to 14 points for the Sycamores, or half of their total. Each of the “pocket-passing” quarterbacks threw an interception. In addition, true freshman Laray Smith’s fumble of a kickoff allowed the Sycamores to build momentum heading into halftime scoring two touchdowns in the final 19 seconds of play.

Buy/Sell/Hold:

Buy | Ted Bolser TE: The preseason Mackey Award watch list member put together one of the best games of his career kick-starting his senior season. Bolser put up numbers that he had not touched since his freshman year. He racked up 78 yards, the second most of his career, and two touchdowns, just the second time he has gotten into the end zone twice in the same game. It looks as if Teddy Touchdown has come into the season ready to put himself, and his team on the map.

Sell | Fan Support: While the announced attendance was over the 40,000-spectator mark, it was far from accurate. Whether you were at Memorial Stadium, or watching on television you saw the patches of emptiness that filled the stands. Most especially in the usual spots, the top corners of the sideline sections and most of the end zone seats. Those who were there were loud, and a tip of the cap to the students who filled up their sections rather well. While I understand that Indiana State on a Thursday night doesn’t exactly scream, “Let’s drive across the state to watch this game”, it still boggles my mind that a university the size of IU, between its students and alumni, can’t fill a stadium with 52,929 seats for opening night.

Hold | The Defense: Yes, they looked better. There was even a time during the middle of the game that the Hoosiers compiled nine consecutive stops, allowing fans to get discounts and eventually free hot dogs. Plus, half of the Sycamores points came on a fumble return and an interception return when the defense wasn’t on the field. However, it was hard to tell just how much of the improvement this unit showed came from their play as opposed to their opposition being an FCS opponent with a head coach making his debut.