The Hoosiers had plenty of chances against Michigan State, twice getting the ball in the final minutes needing a touchdown to take the lead.

Instead, the offense balked, squandering a good outing by the defense. The Hoosiers lost 20-15 to the Spartans on Homecoming.

Let’s grade out the Hoosiers after the the loss, which dropped IU to 2-4.

Passing offense

It took Jack Tuttle 52 pass attempts to throw for 188 yards, a simply woeful 3.6 yards per attempt, a number indicative of the Hoosiers’ inability to move the football.

It was bad.

Tuttle, filling in for the injured Michael Penix Jr., tried to find high-percentage throws near the line of scrimmage, and he completed 28, but the long went for only 22 yards, and all 22 were courtesy of Peyton Hendershot after the catch. In fact, of the 188 passing yards, 138 came after the catch, meaning Tuttle hit almost nothing down the field. It’s not a formula for a victory, especially considering that’s not Nick Sheridan’s scheme. Tuttle threw 2 interceptions, the first turning into a pick-6. MSU tricked Tuttle on the snap, bluffing a blitz, then dropping into a zone; the IU QB tried to hit the hot read, but instead Cal Haladay jumped the route and scored the Spartans’ first TD.

Tuttle was also sacked 3 times, with all 3 being game-changers. On IU’s first drive, Tuttle was dropped on third down from the MSU 2, forcing a field goal to end a promising drive. Later, with Indiana down 5 with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Tuttle was sacked and fumbled, giving the ball back to the Spartans. He was also nuked on IU’s final drive, the last-gasp attempt to win the game.

Grade: F

Rushing offense

Stephen Carr runs hard, and should get credit for doing so. But IU’s offensive line almost never gets to the second level to open up running lanes. Carr had 53 yards and a touchdown, but his long on 19 carries was only 8 yards. Backups Davion Ervin-Poindexter and Chris Childers had 29- and 25-yarders, the only 2 significant plays offensively for the Hoosiers.

Those 2 plays bounced IU’s run production to a respectable 134 yards on a 3.6 average, but the problem is that the Hoosiers had nearly half those yards on only 2 snaps.

Carr did help the Hoosiers by picking up a short-yardage fourth down.

Grade: C-

Offense overall

The Hoosiers had 322 yards of offense, which combined with a solid effort by the defense (with 2 interceptions) might have been enough to win.

But not when the offense gives away 7 points on a pick-6, has 2 more turnovers, fails to score touchdowns in the red zone (only 1 TD on 3 trips) and doesn’t sustain drives (just 8-of-20 on third downs).

The Hoosiers lack big-play potential, and so everything else needs to go exactly according to plan. But with such a small margin for error, IU can’t absorb mistakes. And it had too many, especially the turnovers and sacks that nuked scoring opportunities.

Grade: D

Passing defense

The Hoosiers made Payton Thorne, who has often looked extraordinary this season, look rather ordinary. The MSU quarterback had only 126 yards passing, with a long of 28, and he threw 2 interceptions. Hoosiers DB Noah Pierre’s pick late the fourth quarter, which kept MSU from adding another touchdown, gave the Hoosiers one last opportunity to pull out the win.

The Hoosiers also had 2 sacks, one by Micah McFadden halfway through the fourth quarter that forced a punt with IU down by 5.

Credit too to Indiana for staying home on MSU’s tricks plays; the Spartans have used flea-flickers and halfback passes to their great advantage this season, but the Hoosiers largely stayed home when Michigan State attempted the misdirection.

Grade: A

Rushing defense

Kenneth Walker III has been a bear for most opponents to bring down this season, so it was a win for the IU defense to hold the Heisman dark horse to 84 yards on 3.7 per carry. Walker’s long was only 13, illustrating that the Hoosiers’ defense was excellent in pursuit of the running back.

The Hoosiers held the Spartans to only 100 yards on 35 carries.

Grade: A-

Defense overall

Look, IU held Michigan State to only 13 points on 241 yards with 2 interceptions. The Hoosiers allowed MSU to convert only 5 of 15 third downs, forced 7 punts and stoned their guests on 2 of their 3 trips inside the red zone.

Twice late, Indiana’s defense got the ball back for the offense, down only one possession, once on a sack and once on an interception.

The D was good enough to win.

It’s not often that a team can average 3.9 yards per offensive play and win, but MSU found a way Saturday.

Grade: A

Special teams

Charles Campbell hit 3 field goals — and missed a 55-yarder at the end of the first half — so the field goal kicker did his part to keep IU in the game.

Of course, the Hoosiers need to see those short field goals, of 24 and 25 yards, turn into touchdowns, but the offense stalled in the red zone.

Grade: A-

Coaching

Eh, Indiana isn’t finding any answers.

The Hoosiers were forced into a quarterback change because of the injury to Penix, but Tuttle showed why Tom Allen was unwilling to make the switch any sooner. Maybe Allen needs to work in third-stringer Donaven McCulley more frequently, because he at least gives IU another athlete on an offense that lacks them.

Simply trying to rally the troops with pep talks isn’t going to do it this season, with a team that is laboring to find anything that works offensively.

Grade: D

Overall

The defense and special teams were up to the task.

But when an offense can’t move the football, either through the air or on the ground, and then also gives the opponents 7 points, it’s a difficult equation to figure out.

Grade: D