Keys to a Hoosier Victory Over the Terrapins

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Hoosier Huddle’s fearless leader, Sammy Jacobs, correctly believes there is one key to every game: Score more points than your opponent. As accurate as that is, we have to dive a bit deeper in order to make this a worthwhile weekly feature. So, what can Indiana do on Saturday against the Terrapins of Maryland to ensure they score more points than the Terps.

1.    Disrupt Taulia Tagovailoa and the Maryland Passing Game

Maryland’s junior quarterback, Taulia Tagovailoa, has had a very strong 2022 season and he shredded the IU defense last season to the tune of 419 yards with two touchdowns. This season, Tagovailoa is completing 74.1 percent of his passes and averaging 8.8 yards per attempt. He has a number of dangerous weapons and the IU secondary has shown a tendency to get picked apart with big plays. The potential is there for another huge day for Tagovailoa against the Hoosiers. Outside of IU’s hyped secondary performing up to potential, Indiana has one way to prevent that from happening: pressure Tagovailoa. If that can come from IU’s front four, that’s great. Chances are though, Tom Allen and Chad Wilt will need to bring some creative blitz packages from linebackers and from the secondary. If they can collapse the pocket on Tagovailoa while keeping him contained and preventing Tagovailoa from scrambling, the Hoosiers can force him into bad decisions and drop his accuracy. If Tagovailoa is consistently provided a clean pocket with no pressure, he will have a field day.

2.    Bazelak Must Be More Accurate

Connor Bazelak has been consistently under pressure and he’s taken a real beating this season. It’s hard to say how much of his 52.5 completion percentage is his fault but the bottom line is this: completing only 52.5 percent of passes at just 5.4 yards per attempt is not a successful formula in college football. Now, the first step to improving this number is an improvement in the offensive line and there is hope that could occur. This will be the first game with new offensive line coach Rod Carey after Darren Hiller was relieved of his duties last Sunday. Does that change make a noticeable difference in just one week? If so and the pocket is clean more than it has been, Bazelak’s accuracy should improve. It could also lead to a running game that averages more than 2.9 yards per carry and that should help as well. D.J. Matthews might be back from injury and having a top target and playmaker back on offense would help as well. If Bazelak can get to at least 60 percent completion rate on Saturday, the Hoosiers should have an adequate day on offense.

3.    Succeed in the Red Zone

The Maryland Terrapins are an incredibly efficient 20 for 21 in the red zone. When the Terps get inside the 20, they cash in for points. They are holding opponents to a 72 percent conversion rate in the same category. As IU fans know, the same cannot be said for the Hoosiers. They are allowing a 75% score rate and are only converting on 73.91% of their red zone opportunities. Walt Bell has tried some different formations (McCulley at Wildcat) to jumpstart the red zone offense but for the most part, this has been an issue for a couple of seasons and has not been fixed yet. In order to breakthrough and get this victory, the Hoosiers will need to be much better than they have been recently in the red zone.