What Worked and What Didn't Work for IU on Saturday Against Penn State
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Image: Zach Greene Hoosier Huddle
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
The Indiana Hoosiers dropped their sixth-straight football game on Saturday to fall to 3-6 (1-5) after a 45-14 drubbing against No. 15 Penn State. We will go through what worked and what did not in the latest Hoosier loss.
What Worked
Quarterback Mobility- The Hoosiers finally trotted out a quarterback who can hurt defenses with their feet as well as their arm. While the offense did not do much of anything, it was easy to easy that the added ability for the quarterback to run the ball gave IU a much-needed threat on the ground. IU quarterbacks only rushed for a combined 24 yards, Penn State did have to account for the quarterback run.
James Evans- Evans had a career night. He punted nine times on a blustery day and averaged 46.3 yards per punt with a long of 69 yards. Five of his punts were downed inside the 20, with two of them pinned inside the opponent’s five-yard line. He was a weapon that IU could not take advantage of as the defense let Penn State off the mat almost immediately when they were pinned deep in their own territory.
What Did Not Work
Quarterback Management- It made no sense as to why Jack Tuttle got the start on Saturday and why Dexter Williams was third string. The handling of the quarterback situation with Connor Bazelak out with injury was abysmal. Tuttle is well respected by his teammates and has shown plenty of toughness and grit in his time at Indiana. However, he is in the transfer portal. One cannot knock him for wanting to play as he never really was given a chance to show what he could do, but it was a mistake to start him against Penn State. The time to play Tuttle was against Nebraska, Maryland or Rutgers. Unfortunately, it looks like Tuttle suffered another major injury.
After the injury, Tom Allen and his staff brought in true freshman Brenden Sorsby, who has a live arm, but is still in his infancy with the program. The head scratching moves left redshirt sophomore Dexter Williams as the third option. Someone needs to make it make sense. After talking up Williams in press conferences earlier this season, Williams was passed by a true freshman? There are many questions that need to be asked Monday about the decision. Is there a fatal flaw with Williams? Does this decision go all the way back to the Outback Bowl when Williams was an afterthought and IU rolled with Tuttle who had separated his shoulder?
IU has three games left and while not mathematically eliminated from bowl eligibility (that will happen Saturday), Tom Allen and his staff need to look ahead to 2023. If you are starting Connor Bazelak because it’s Ohio State and the less experienced quarterbacks aren’t ready, it’s a mistake. That’s on the staff. If they think that either Sorsby or Williams is the long-term answer they need to be out there. They will have to play the Buckeyes at some point in their career, they can’t be protected forever.
Offensive Line- The ongoing issue cost Indiana another quarterback. The offensive line looked abysmal again after some progress. The Hoosier front allowed six sacks and 16 tackles for loss against Penn State. This wasn’t the quarterback holding the ball too long or good coverage, this was just domination from the defense and getting into the back field nearly at the same time as the ball. Time to try some new combinations.
Veterans on Defense- Maybe the most frustrating thing this season is how poorly the veterans on this defense have played. Heck, they have regressed. Devon Matthews, Tiawan Mullen and Jaylin Williams have all showed All-Big Ten talent, but have not played like it this year. Matthews had a huge unnecessary roughness penalty that an upperclassman like him cannot have. A few plays after that late hit, he bounced off Penn State’s running back like a super ball. Tiawan Mullen had an interception, but again was inconsistent. His frustration bubbled over as he got into a shoving match with a Penn State receiver, which may have represented the most fight IU has shown in weeks. Jaylin Williams, IU’s active leader in interceptions, was abused in the passing game. There were multiple chances for him to make a play on a ball that he either did not turn around on or whiffed. There needs to be some accountability for the action of the veterans, but they keep getting run out on defense.
Running Back Rotation- It’s been time to make Josh Henderson the main running back. He is the only consistent runner who can break tackles and get yards going forward. He is a good pass catcher and solid in pass protection. The current rotation pattern is not working and after three carries for minus-six yards, Shaun Shivers has shown to not be the every-down back IU expected him to be. This is not even considering the total misuse of Jaylin Williams, who has been great in space, but is being run between the tackles.
IU is staring 3-9 (1-8) in the face after a 2-10 (0-9) season in 2021. There lacks logic in IU’s choices on the field (we’ll talk about the lack of logic off the field after the season). Someone has to make this all make sense, because right now it makes zero sense.