Analysis: Some troubling numbers from the Michigan State game

Here are my thoughts following Saturday’s 52-26 loss to Michigan State, that while closer than the final score, was still a game that Indiana didn’t play well enough to win.

Sorry that it’s a little late being posted but I opted to drive home from East Lansing and work on it from home at a reasonable rather than sitting in the press box at Spartan Stadium and getting home really late.

Here are the numbers that jumped out from Saturday’s game:

· 96: Michigan State ran 96 plays in the game to 60 for Indiana. When your offense gets 36 more opportunities to win a game than you do, it makes matters much more difficult.
· 13 of 20: The Spartan were 13 of 20 on third down, a 65 percent conversion percentage. Making matter worse, several of those were on third and 10 or more. Not being able to get off the field on third down is one of those things that can lead to a team having 96 plays in a game.
· 24: That’s how many points Michigan State scored in the fourth quarter. Go back to the Rutgers game and in the last two games, Indiana has been outscored 46-0 in the fourth quarter. How can any team expect to win football games when faced with a statistic like that one.
· 5: This is the number of points that Indiana left on the field with special teams. Griffin Oakes, who rarely misses any kicks, missed two extra points (one that hit the left upright and the other that sailed wide right) and then a 42-yard field goal with the wind at his back. When the score was 31-26 Michigan State, it should have been 31-all.
· 38:59: That was Michigan State’s time of possession in the game compared to 21:01 for IU. I know that Buck Suhr says on the radio that Indiana doesn’t care about time of possession because it can score so quickly. But the IU defense has to care about being on the field for nearly two thirds of the game.
· 4: That’s how many games that Indiana has now lost in a row after winning its first four. And after a bye next week, IU gets to play Iowa and Michigan back-to-back at home. Oh boy.

What does it all mean?

It means that in its current state, the Indiana football program has to make some changes during the bye week in terms of its tempo in games. Expecting a defense to be on the field that many plays is expecting too much. Perhaps the Hoosiers should slow things down just a tad on offense.

That’s one thought. Here’s a few more:

*** Indiana has to get off the field on third down. Saturday the coverage by the secondary wasn’t awful but Michigan State kept making play after play. The DB’s need to do more than shadow receivers down the field. They also need to look back at the ball every once in a while rather than just allow opponents to go up and make acrobatic catches.

*** Indiana needs to take better advantage of Jordan Howard, Devine Redding and now Mike Majette. There were a couple of third and short situations that needed to be runs to move the chains but instead were passes down field. Some worked, some didn’t. Perhaps Howard and Redding still aren’t 100 percent healthy and that may have added to the game plan but the reality is that when you can pound the ball inside a few times and then use a player like Howard to make a good play action fake, the passing game really has a chance to explode.

*** Special teams has to improve. Oakes needs to make kicks. Erich Toth needs to angle balls inside the 10 rather that booting them out of the end zone, and return guys like Damon Graham need to hold onto the football and get to it more quickly. In a program where the phrase “small margin for error” is often repeated, you cannot afford to have special teams breakdowns.

Indiana has two weeks before it plays again against Iowa on Nov. 7. The Hoosiers need to get some things fixed during this bye week.