Sluggish Start and Woeful Offense Doom Hoosiers

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers got off to a dreadful start, falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter before even picking up a first down. IU's defense rebounded after their awful start and played a very nice second half but the offense never really got into an effective rhythm and IU fell to 3-4 with a 24-14 loss to 4-3 Northwestern. The defeat was Indiana's eighth straight in Evanston and they now face a near must win pair of games against Maryland and Rutgers.

Northwestern took the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards on 11 plays, scoring on Clayton Thorson's 17-yard completion to Solomon Vault. IU went three and out and the Wildcats quickly struck again with Thorson finding the Big Ten's leading receiver, Austin Carr, for a 34-yard touchdown to make it 14-0. Indiana went three and out again but the IU defense was able to get a stop and IU's offense finally found a bit of success, moving the ball to the four yard-line before settling for a 21-yard field goal from Griffin Oakes. Northwestern quickly answered as Clayton Thorson hit Macon Wilson with a gorgeous pass to make it 21-3. It appeared the Wildcats were headed for a blowout victory but the IU defense had other ideas. The Wildcats offense added a field goal as the first half expired with the score 24-3. 

Indiana began the second half and moved the ball well before, once again, stalling inside of the red zone. They settled for a 30-yard field goal that cut the lead to 24-6. Northwestern's next possession resulted in a punt that was blocked by Indiana's Ricky Jones and IU started with great field possession. However, they were unable to capitalize and turned it over on downs. The Hoosiers defense continued to stand strong and the offense finally found the end zone as Nick Westbrook scored on a four yard sweep play that saw him scamper in untouched. The ensuing two-point conversion was no good, leaving the score at 24-12 heading to the fourth quarter. Indiana's offense had multiple chances as the Hoosier defense held Northwestern's offense completely silent for the entirety of the second half. However, they failed to breakthrough as Richard Lagow struggled to consistently hit his target and a couple of penalties on the offensive line derailed drives. Northwestern took a safety late in the game, giving Indiana the final two points of the game and making the score 24-14.

Clayton Thorson had a tremendous first half but was quiet in the second half before getting injured on a running play in the fourth quarter. He finished with 287 yards and three touchdowns. Austin Carr was the leading receiver for the Cats, gaining 125 yards and scoring a touchdown. Austin Jackson was held in check very nicely by the Hoosiers, gaining 94 yards and only 3.4 yards per carry. Richard Lagow finished with 319 yards but he threw a pair of interceptions and missed a number of open opportunities for big plays. Nick Westbrook had a very nice contest, finishing with 126 yards on ten catches plus having IU's lone touchdown of the day. Northwestern ended up only outgaining IU by five yards, 408-403 but the Hoosiers were never able to fully recover from their extremely sluggish start. They now head home to face the Maryland Terrapins in what, for all intents and purposes, amounts to a must-win game.

Notes and Observations

-Dan Feeney started and played for the Hoosiers. That was a welcome sight but it did not fix the running game. It's beginning to look like they'll be a poor running team for the rest of the season and that absolutely cripples the offense.

-I thought the offensive play calling was pretty good. They were aggressive and put players into position to make big plays. However, for the most part, deep balls were underthrown or passes were dropped and the offense ends up leaving another Saturday very frustrated.

-The defense was spectacular after the first drive of the second half. They are quite fun to watch and I commend them for battling to keep the game from being a blowout.

-IU has to figure out two things before this vital, must-win two game stretch. They must figure out how to start better and stop putting themselves into a hole they can't dig out of and they must figure out to how get into the end zone when they have a scoring chance. I don't know if the answer if Zander Diamont or Austin King or different play calling but it's clear they won't return to a bowl game if they don't get those two things fixed. 

-IU's main goal of returning to a bowl game is still very much in front of them but they now have virtually no margin for error remaining. The "must-win" portion of the the schedule starts next Saturday at 3:30 against the Terrapins.