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Indiana football: 3 things to like, 3 things not to like after Week 1 win over Illinois
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Indiana broke its 8-game losing streak and won a Big Ten game for the first time since 2020 on Friday night, when the Hoosiers rallied past Illinois in the opener in IU’s Memorial Stadium.
The Hoosiers have something to build on now, as the Idaho Vandals roll into Bloomington on Saturday night. Can IU get on a winning streak? The schedule says yes, with Idaho, then Western Kentucky before a trip to Cincinnati.
Let’s take a look at 3 things to like and 3 not to like following the 23-20 victory against the Fighting Illini.
3 things to like
Big-play potential
Behind new quarterback Connor Bazelak, the Hoosiers’ offense flashed the big-play potential that had been a hallmark before IU got stuck in the mud during most of the 2021 season.
When Bazelak, a transfer from Missouri, hit DJ Matthews in stride for a 52-yard bomb — Indiana’s first touchdown — it had to bring a huge sigh of relief to just about everyone associated with the program. It helped to show that Bazelak is the right man for the job, after he had beaten out Jack Tuttle in training camp. Also, it illustrated that Matthews, who missed most of last season with an ACL injury, was healthy and ready for a big season.
Earlier, Bazelak had connected with Trinity Valley CC transfer Cam Camper for 40 yards, setting up a field goal on Indiana’s first possession.
Plays of 40 or more yards were rare for the Hoosiers during Big Ten play last season, when IU lost all 9 of its games, most in blowout fashion.
Active in the front
Yes, Chase Brown had 199 yards rushing against the Hoosiers’ defense, but the Illinois running back is going to carve up a lot of defenses this season.
But IU was still active in its defensive front, hassling the Illini at the line of scrimmage and — most importantly — behind it. The Hoosiers finished with 10 tackles for loss, dropping Illinois for 44 negative yards on those plays. And they had 3 sacks. Senior linebacker Cam Jones, despite being nicked up during the game, was probably the best defender on the field, racking up 12 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.
The Hoosiers’ first 2 sacks, by Jones and then Miami transfer Bradley Jennings Jr., came on 3rd downs, forcing Illinois to punt. The 3rd was a 2nd-down sack by defensive lineman Beau Robbins, and Illinois failed to convert the long 3rd down on the next play.
Newcomer JH Tevis, a transfer from Cal, proved to be a big-time addition; the versatile 6-4, 283-pound lineman had 4 tackles, 2 for loss. The biggest came on Indiana’s goal-line stand early in the 4th quarter when he and Aaron Casey stuffed Brown for a 3-yard loss on a 4th-and-goal from the 1. It was the play that turned the momentum in the Hoosiers’ favor.
The final drive
The Hoosiers took over at their own 25-yard line with 2:16 left, needing a touchdown to take the lead.
The transfer trio of Bazelak, Matthews and Camper — Matthews had transferred to IU from Florida State before last season — was terrific. Bazelak was 7-of-10 on the game-winning drive, hitting Matthews 4 times and Camper 3. He didn’t even target another receiver. Bazelak looked like the veteran quarterback Tom Allen had hoped to be getting when the strong-armed QB came over from Missouri. He was calm, poised and executed the 2-minute offense to perfection.
It all set up Shaun Shivers’ 1-yard rush as Indiana took the lead with 23 seconds left.
3 things not to like
The non-existent running game
In the offseason, Indiana retooled its running game, hoping it could get a boost for 2022.
After 1 game, that project has been a fail. The Hoosiers rushed for only 32 yards on 26 carries against the Fighting Illini, for an average of 1.2 yards per attempt. Shivers, who transferred to Bloomington from Auburn, got the start, as expected, but was ineffective, with only 28 yards on 15 carries, although he did have the game-winning touchdown. But of his 15 attempts, the longest went for only 5 yards. He’d like that to be the average.
But the problem wasn’t all on Shivers and fellow transfer Josh Henderson — the back from North Carolina had 7 yards on 6 attempts. The offensive line shares in the issue. It frequently didn’t get any push at the line of scrimmage, nor could it open up holes. Shivers and Henderson were often hit at the line, then had to individually fight for a yard or 2.
For IU to have sustained offensive success this season, it’s running game will have to start moving forward.
Bazelak’s inaccuracy
For as good as Bazelak looked at times during Friday night’s win — he finished with 330 yards on 28-of-52 passing, with a touchdown and an interception — he had too many inaccurate throws, especially in the first half. Maybe it was only Game 1 jitters, as he was only 5-of-12 in the first quarter and 11-of-24 in the first 30 minutes, but it’s something to monitor, especially once IU’s Big Ten schedule resumes next month.
Get off the field
The Hoosiers twice stopped Illinois on 4th down, including the critical stand at the beginning of the 4th quarter.
But overall, Illinois converted far too many 3rd downs, moving the sticks on 9 of 17 attempts. A couple more stops could have given the Hoosiers a little more breathing room at the end of the close season-opening win.
Part of the issue — a major part — was IU’s inability to stop Brown, who had 199 yards on 36 carries, averaging 5.5 yards per attempt.
Kyle Charters, a familiar face at Gold & Black, covers Purdue, Indiana and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.