Turnovers and Penalties Prove Fatal, Hoosiers Fall 33-28

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers (2-1) turned the ball over five times, had a field goal blocked and committed nine penalties for 84 yards. The mistakes proved fatal as the Hoosiers fell behind 24-7 and were unable to complete a comeback bid in a 33-28 loss to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-0). The defeat dropped Indiana to 2-1 heading into a brutal stretch against Michigan State, Ohio State and Nebraska. The Hoosiers were without All-American offensive lineman Dan Feeney and right tackle Dimitric Camiel and they struggled to run the ball effectively without them, rushing for only 115 yards on 32 carries. However, they moved the ball incredibly well through the air as Richard Lagow threw for a new career-high 496 yards and three touchdowns. That yardage was undone by his five interceptions, the most a quarterback has thrown in a single-game at Indiana. In total, the Hoosiers out-gained the Demon Deacons 611-352.

The game got off to a perfect start for Indiana as Lagow found Nick Westbrook on a slant pattern over the middle. He sped through a seam in the defense and scampered for a 75-yard touchdown on the first play of the game. Wake Forest was forced to punt and the Hoosiers quickly marched into the red zone, looking to take an early commanding lead. A quick pass to Luke Timian was high and deflected off of his hands. Wake Forest's Jessie Bates intercepted the ball in the end zone and The Demon Deacons converted multiple third and fourth downs to reach the end zone and tie the game at 7. Lagow had a third down pass deflect off of Nick Westbrook and Bates intercepted his second pass of the day. He returned this one for a touchdown to give Wake Forest a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Wake scored right before halftime as John Wolford connected with Chuckie Wade for a long touchdown to make it 21-7 at the half. 

Richard Lagow threw his fourth interception on IU's opening possession of the second half and the Demon Deacons hit a field goal to make it 24-7. Lagow found Ricky Jones for a big 65-yard catch and Nick Westbrook caught his second touchdown of the day to make it 24-14. The two sides traded punts before the Demon Deacons connected on another field goal and increased their lead to 27-14. IU got within six as Tyler Natee scored his first touchdown of his career on a one-yard run with only 39 seconds remaining in the third quarter. With the momentum on Indiana's side, the Hoosiers defense was called for a ridiculous 45 yards of penalties in one drive as Wake Forest's John Wolford eventually ran in for his second score of the game to make it 33-21. Lagow threw his fifth interception of the game before eventually completing a deep ball to Donavan Hale with 11 seconds remaining to reach the final score of 33-28. 

The Hoosiers will look to get healthy on the offensive line and rebound next Saturday against the Michigan State Spartans at 8:00pm.