TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Wrap and Reaction: Tennessee 23 Indiana 22
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Image: Amanda Pavelka Hoosier Huddle
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
Opponent: Tennessee Volunteers
Location: Thursday, January 2, 2020
Why They Played: The Hoosiers and Volunteers were selected to play in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. It was their second all-time meeting on the gridiron.
What The Game Meant: The game was a chance for the Hoosiers to cap of a fantastic season with a ninth win (that would match the program high), a win over an SEC team and end a 28-year bowl victory drought. However, none of those things happened and unfortunately, some fans will only remember the 2019 season for IU blowing a 22-9 late lead.
Top Offensive Performers
Peyton Ramsey, QB, Indiana- Ramsey did what he did all season long. He battled, put his team in position to win and made the gutsy plays that drew the respect of every single person in the stadium. He completed 20-of-34 passes for 227 yards and ran the ball for 80 non-sack rushing yards, which led the team. He scored Indiana’s only two offensive touchdowns as well.
Peyton Hendershot, TE, Indiana- The other Peyton on Indiana’s offense showed off his toughness as well. He brushed left with injuries to his should twice only to return and perform. Hendershot set the IU single-season record for receptions and receiving yards for a tight end. He led the Hoosiers with six catches for 67 yards in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
Eric Gray, RB, Tennessee- Gray breathed the life back into the Tennessee offense after it looked dead for most of the second half. He carried the ball 14 times for 87 yards and the game winning score.
Top Defensive Performers
Jamar Johnson, DB, Indiana- Johnson had the play of the game for the Hoosiers as he took an interception back 64 yards for a touchdown. He also made two tackles. Johnson may be the answer at Husky for the next two years for Kane Wommack’s defense.
Micah McFadden, LB, Indiana- McFadden continued to be Indiana’s most productive linebacker in the bowl game. Not only did he have an interception to set up a field goal before halftime, he five tackles including one for a loss.
Jerome Johnson, DL, Indiana- Johnson led the team in tackles with six and added a sack. He has been an under-appreciated lineman who shows up, puts his hand in the ground and gets after people.
Darrell Taylor, LB, Tennessee- Taylor had six tackles and two for a loss for a defense that made things extremely difficult for Ramsey and the Hoosier offense.
Special Team Performance
Outside of Haydon Whitehead, Jared Smolar, Sean Wratcher and David Ellis, this unit under performed. Logan Justus made two of his three field goals, but missed what would have been a career-long 52-yard try to take the lead late in the game and put an extra point that ended up as the difference in the game. Justus finished the year missing four of his last six tries on field goals.
There was no production in the punt return game as Whop Philyor looked as if he was trying too hard to showcase his talents on the big stage as he had two returns for negative-four yards. He also finished the game with negative-10 all-purpose yards.
The biggest and most visible blunder came on an on-side kick attempt from Tennessee where Indiana looked and was ill-prepared for the attempt. Tennessee got the ball back and roared into the end zone for a one-point lead. It was inexcusable to not have the hands team on the field, especially with the newer kickoff rules in place. Coach Allen said that it was mentioned on the side line, but evidently the choice was to have the regular kickoff team out there. Coaches are responsible for putting players in positions to succeed and the Indiana staff just didn’t do that on that particular play.
Key Stat(s)
30 Seconds
Tennessee scored two touchdowns in a span of 30 seconds to sink the Hoosiers hopes of a bowl win.
Turning Point
Feel free to disagree here, but to me the missed extra point after the pick six kept hopes alive for Tennessee. Just when it looked as if everything was going IU’s way, that doink off the upright kept Tennessee’s embers lit just enough. However, the obvious one is the recovered onside kick.
I Knew it Was Over When…
Peyton Ramsey bounced a fourth down pass to Nick Westbrook.
Players of the Game
Peyton Ramsey, Indiana- Ramsey will be remembered for his toughness and grit. He also was a pretty darn productive player as well. When Indiana needed a play, Ramsey usually delivered.
Eric Gray, Tennessee- Gray had 121 total yards and a score. He was easily the best running back on the field and was the difference in the successes of both offenses.
What I took away from the game
The Indiana Hoosiers have suffered some gut-punch, soul-sucking losses in the past, but this may be the hardest one to swallow. The Hoosiers had a chance to put a cherry on top of what had already been a largely successful season with a win over an SEC team in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, but that was not in the cards. For me, the hardest part about the loss was how they lost. Not only is it devastating to the staff and players, it just is more fuel to stoke the flames of the fans who are hesitant to buy in to Tom Allen and the program at large.
The most unfortunate takeaway from the game is that a four-minute collapse totally wiped out a performance that had more good than bad for the Hoosiers. The defensive game plan was great, they held Tennessee to 23 points and 374 yards of offense while forcing two takeaways and creating a defensive score. For a unit that struggled down the stretch, this performance was encouraging.
Offensively, the Hoosiers could not get much going in the first half as they mustered 69 yards. This was due in large part to an offensive line that was without two opening day starters getting whipped up front, Stevie Scott being unavailable and a game plan that maybe tried to do too much. To the offense’s staffs credit they went back to what worked well all season and it paid off in the second half. The Hoosiers scored 19 points and put up 234 yards in the second half. The lack of production from Whop Philyor was concerning as he was targeted just a few times and ended the game with negative-10 all-purpose yards. There were dropped passes and penalties that caused drives to be stalled and points left on the field, but there were more good things than bad.
The coaching staff had an up and down day as well as one can say that the Hoosiers mismanaged a goal-to-go situation at the end of the first half, as the Hoosiers opted to spike the ball and kick a field goal instead of using their final time out and taking a shot at the end zone before kicking the try. Personally, I did not think that was as egregious as some did as the Hoosiers just needed points. The downfall of the Hoosiers offensively was not being able to tack on points or at the very least get a first down on a drive that started with 8:50 left in the game and the Hoosiers ahead 22-9. A field goal or a couple first downs, they did have a second-and-five on the drive, would have probably iced the game.
The inexcusable call came when the staff, whether it be Allen or special teams coordinator William Inge, failed to anticipate an onside kick and put the hands team on the field leading to a recovery for Tennessee and the go ahead score two plays later. The staff thought Tennessee would kick it deep with three time outs and let their defense go to work, IU chose…poorly.
The result was an utter collapse for the Hoosiers, but Tom Allen said it best, each unit had a chance to finish things off and each failed.
The bowl performance showed us two things, IU is headed in the right direction and there is still much work to be done. The offensive to-do list is long and you can bet that Indiana head coach Tom Allen took the loss personally and will go back and look at the mistakes that both the staff and players made and correct them. Mistakes are part of any learning process; the key is to not make the exact same mistakes over and over.
I said before the season that the next step for this program is to win the games they were supposed to win, they did that. Now comes the hard part, can they continue to do that while taking steps towards the next step which is to win a few more games they’re not “supposed” to win.