
Indiana football: 5 trends that need to change for the Hoosiers
Indiana has lost 3 games in a row to end what had been a promising start to the season, at least in terms of victories.
The Hoosiers have, in many ways, been exposed by better competition in the past 3 games, getting blown out by 21 points at Cincinnati, 14 points at Nebraska and 21 vs. Michigan in Memorial Stadium. If Indiana is to get headed back in the right direction, it might need to come now. As the 2nd half of the season gets under way; the Hoosiers host Maryland Saturday before traveling to Rutgers a week later.
Let’s take a look at 5 trends that need to change:
The sacks
Coach Tom Allen fired his offensive line coach this week, after growing tired of seeing his quarterback chased around — and out of — the pocket. Darren Hiller, who coached the O-line and was run-game coordinator, is out, replaced by former Northern Illinois coach Rod Carey.
Carey has a lot of work to do to fix a unit that is one of the worst in the country. Indiana’s given up 19 sacks in 6 games this season, a rate of more than 3 per game that ranks the Hoosiers 115th in the nation (out of 131). The trend has been even worse of late, as the line has given up 13 during the 3-game losing streak, including 7 in the 31-10 loss to Michigan on Saturday. It didn’t help, either, that the Hoosiers had only 29 yards of offense in the 2nd half vs. the Wolverines after they had played to a 10-all tie in the 1st.
The problem isn’t new. Indiana gave up 29 sacks last season, the 3rd-most in the Big Ten, and was forced into using 4 different starting quarterbacks because of injuries, yet Allen decided to stick with Hiller. And Indiana didn’t hit the transfer portal to fix its personnel, sticking largely with the returning veterans who struggled last season. Add in Matthew Bedford’s Game 1 knee injury, which will keep him out for the season, and the line has turned into a mess.
Must run
Indiana can not run the football.
And it’s killing the offense, particularly any chance it has at consistency.
The reasons run deep: The offensive line has struggled not only in pass protection but also in run blocking. The duo of Shawn Shivers and Josh Henderson hasn’t proven to be the 1-2 combo — the former with speed and the latter with physicality — that was hoped. And as a result, Indiana ranked 124th in the country in rushing offense, averaging less than 91 yards per game. Even worse, IU is averaging a tick less than 3 yards per carry, although it does have 7 rushing TDs. Remarkably, Indiana is not last among Big Ten teams, as Iowa averages only 82 yards per game and an even more miserable 2.6 yards per tote.
The sacks certainly aren’t helping, as Indiana has lost 80 yards on the 10 quarterback-takedowns the last 2 games, but in their Big Ten losses to Nebraska and Michigan, the Hoosiers only gained 86 yards on 48 carries, only 1.8 per attempt. Maybe freshman Jaylin Lucas can help. Although he’s only 5-9, 170 pounds, Lucas has shown to be the most elusive of Indiana’s options, having carries of 34 and 39 yards vs. Nebraska and Michigan, respectively, the last 2 weeks. If IU could get him the ball 10-12 times per game, maybe he could prove a difference-maker.
3rd downs
It’s hard to score when the offense can’t stay on the field.
And in the last 2 weeks, Indiana’s 3rd-down conversion rate has been atrocious, as it has converted only 7-of-30 attempts for a measly 23.3 percent. If that was the Hoosiers’ average for the 6 games this season, then they’d ranked 3rd-to-last in the country.
But the 3rd-down woes are only a recent trend. On the season, Indiana is a more respectable 42-of-104 (40.4 percent), which ranks No. 61 nationally. Maybe the Hoosiers can bounce back this week, because Maryland is only 96th in the country in 3rd-down stops at 42.5-percent.
TOP
Time of possession can frequently be a meaningless statistic, like if an offense is putting up a lot of points on quick-strike big-chunk plays.
But it can be meaningful, too, like if an offense isn’t able to stay on the field. And for Indiana, that has been the case far too frequently, especially of late. In the Michigan game, the Wolverines had possession of the ball for nearly 38 minutes, including 12 minutes in the 4th quarter. In Lincoln, Nebraska possessed the ball for almost 35 minutes, including more than 11 minutes of the 4th.
In all, Indiana is averaging only 24:43 of possession per game, which ranks better only than Mississippi in the entire country.
October/November slump
Indiana’s last non-September victory came on Dec. 5, 2020, when the Hoosiers traveled to Madison and beat Wisconsin. Since then, IU is 0-10 in October and November. When will the next victory come? Indiana is a 10.5-point home underdog to Maryland Saturday and is likely to be a slim ‘dog at Rutgers the following week.