Numbers That Mattered: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Maryland Terrapins

Written By: Evan Alvarez

Numbers drive so much in today’s world and the sports world is no different. Now more than ever teams are hiring and building analytics teams to get every edge possible over their opponents. Over the course of the season, we’ll look into many of those numbers following the Hoosiers’ matchups each week. 

Today, we have the exciting job to examine the numbers behind Indiana’s recent 42-28 win over the Maryland Terrapins.

0…

Represents the points off turnovers that Maryland had during Saturday’s game. Indiana turned the ball over four times. In most games, that leads to a loss, but Maryland could not capitalize whatsoever on Indiana’s miscues. This game had a lot of luck woven into it. One being this stat here, the other being the amount of tipped passes that Maryland had for big gains. Saturday was unique, that’s for sure, but props to the Indiana defense here for shutting down Maryland’s offense amidst significant adversity.

7.39…

Represents Indiana’s yards per play against Maryland (per gameonpaper.com), which ranks as an 85th percentile score for a single FBS vs. FBS game in the country when compared to 2023 full season data. Maryland generated 5.66 yards per play (45th percentile). These two metrics tell a firm story of how the game progressed, as Indiana was more efficient with the plays they had on offense compared to Maryland. Yards lead to points and points lead to wins. Despite turnovers, Indiana pulled out a win with efficiency on both sides of the ball.

1…

Represents the number of plays where Maryland had a higher win probability than Indiana during Saturday’s game. That play was with 6:33 left in the 3rd quarter when Maryland forced a punt at the score of 21-21. At that point in time, Maryland’s win percentage was 53%. Then, James Evans’ punt was downed at the 15 yard line and Maryland’s win percentage dropped back down to 41.9% (per gameonpaper.com). That swing really shows the importance of special teams in a given game, and boy did James Evans have a major impact here. To be clear here though, there were 167 plays on Saturday and Indiana had a higher win probability than Maryland on 166 of them. 

49%…

Represents the snap share that lead running back Ty Son Lawton received on Saturday (per Pro Football Focus). The game against Maryland was likely the first game of the season where we’d see what the true carry split was amongst Indiana’s many talented running backs. Behind Lawton, Justice Ellison received 39% of the snap share and Kaelon Black received 11% of the snap share (to avoid messy decimals, we rounded down, resulting in these %’s adding to 99%. Rest assured, these figures are accurate). Ty Son Lawton, on the season, has been very effective in his first year with the Hoosiers, putting up 277 rushing yards on 4.8 yards per attempt and 6 touchdowns. He has also posted 3 receptions for 22 yards in the 2024 campaign. Lawton has been a great addition to the Hoosiers this season and will no doubt be a huge factor to Indiana’s success moving forward.

19...

Represents Mikail Kamara’s rank on Pro Football Focus (PFF) when looking at overall defensive grades among nearly all edge defenders in the country (nearly 550 edge defenders graded in this dataset). Kamara had one of his best games of the season against Maryland, putting up 5 QB pressures in the form of 1 sack, 2 QB hits, and 2 QB hurries. On the season, Kamara has been an absolute force, putting up 20 QB pressures in the form of: 4 sacks, 5 QB hits, and 11 QB hurries. Entering a more difficult portion of Indiana’s schedule, Kamara will be an extremely important part of the Hoosiers’ pass rush.

Saturday, October 5th @ 3:30 PM EST…

Represents Indiana’s next game against the Northwestern Wildcats. Be on the lookout for another edition of “Numbers That Mattered” after that game as well.