Analysis: Plenty of blame to go around in most recent debacle

[IndyHutch 1,718]

Just when you think you've seen it all with Indiana football, Rutgers happened on Saturday. A 25-point lead just over 20 minutes to play is squandered and another Indiana football season is in jeopardy of heading south. Here is my take on the 55-52 setback.

My first thought following Indiana’s gift-wrapped, come-from-ahead, 55-52 loss to Rutgers at home Saturday was that with Indiana football there have always been a couple of hard and fast truths.

 

1. It’s never easy.
2. No lead is ever safe.
3. Always expect the unexpected.

 

They all came into play Saturday in Bloomington.

 

Indiana had a 25-point lead with 5:25 to play in the third quarter after the Hoosiers opened the half scoring 28 unanswered points and took a 52-27 lead.

 

At most college football programs, it’s game over. Warm up the Rutgers busses, put in some guys that normally don’t get to play and watch the individual statistics soar.

 

But we all know another truth about Indiana football: IU is not most college football programs.

 

Just when you think you’ve seen it all with the Hoosiers, something like this happens. You can blame Kevin Wilson (and many will). You can blame some poor decisions by Nate Sudfeld late in the game (and many will). You can blame a defense that in key situations simply can’t get out of its own way (and many will).

 

You can blame an inopportune bad snap on a punt that resulted in a touchdown. You can blame lack of recognition on a Rutgers fake punt in the first half. You can blame not getting enough consistent pressure on the quarterback throughout the game.

 

There was plenty of blame to go around. But the reality here is that this game should never have had a chance to get to where Rutgers could come back and win. Good teams and good programs just do not allow that to happen. But once again Indiana football proved that when it comes to those two areas IU is 0-for-2.

 

So who deserves the most blame for this debacle?

 

Wilson? If you are one of those people in the camp that the fifth-year head coach needed to find a way to win this season and if not could potentially be shown the door, then you’d have to think a loss like this could provide the straw that broke the camel’s back. No question about it. This was an epic loss. This was one that should have been in the books and yet you let it slip away. Indiana should be 5-2 right now with five games to play and needing just one win to get bowl eligible.

 

Instead, IU will likely have to beat both Maryland and Purdue on the road to get to a bowl game. While a possibility, that’s far from a sure thing.

 

But back to Wilson. I remember thinking back in 2010 after IU got ripped on the road at Wisconsin 83-20 that that one embarrassment was going to be tough for Lynch to overcome. And he was let go after the season. But I really felt that went IU left Madison that day that Lynch was a dead coach walking.

 

If Indiana fails to win six games this year, when people look back at Saturday’s debacle will they think about it in the same way? It’s very possible. The other one was inexcusable for different reasons. This was simply a game that once you got ahead 52-27 you simply could not afford to lose. And when the Hoosiers did … well, draw your own conclusions.

 

After IU took that big lead, Rutgers came back and scored pretty quickly to make it 52-33. But that should still be a lead, with 17 minutes to play in the game that should be safe.

 

The next time IU got the ball I thought the Hoosiers got a little conservative. Mike Majette, running the ball for the first time in a game this season on Saturday, got the call on running plays on both first and second down. One went for minus-1 and the other for no gain. Now, you’re in third and long and you get an 8-yard completion. On the first play of the fourth quarter, after deciding to punt from the Rutgers 46, there was a high snap over the head of Erich Toth and the senior didn’t have his finest moment on the play. He tried to pick it up but instead the ball was knocked away and eventually returned the other way for a touchdown. Now it was 52-39.

 

When IU got the ball back the next time, it looked as the Hoosiers were going to be aggressive again. Ricky Jones caught passes of 13 and 23 yards to get the ball to the Rutgers 40. But then Sudfeld had an incomplete pass, Devine Redding had a 1 yard gain, and on third down Sudfeld threw a pick. On this play, the defender made a nice break on the ball and made an acrobatic grab. Still, Rutgers got the ball back and scored on the next possession to make it 52-46.

 

This is when I thought Sudfeld really made his most questionable throw of the game. On first down at the IU 25, leading by six points with just under 10 minutes to play, Sudfeld threw a pass in the direction of Mitchell Paige deep down the left sideline. But there were three Rutgers defenders in the area and one of them came up with a pick.

 

Rutgers needed five plays to go 63 yards and the game was tied. Indiana blocked another extra point to keep it at 52-all. But it was only delaying the inevitable.

 

Indiana had a three and out and never saw the ball again.

 

Indiana had a ton of superlative performances. Sudfeld had a career-high passing, the Hoosiers may have found another solid running back with the play of Majette, and three IU receivers had more than 100 yards receiving.

 

But none of it matters because of the ‘L’. That’s the only statistic you could take out of this game.

 

And ultimately it could be the only statistic in 2015 that separates Indiana from going to a bowl game.

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[HoosierReb01 7,511]

Yep. Plenty of blame. Pretty much says it all.

[Baseline 4]

When you're up 52-27 you should never ever, EVER lose.  After all of the bad defense and two interceptions they had 3rd and 1 to keep the ball and possibly drive to a winning FG. THEY LOST 3 YDS ON THE PLAY.  PITIFUL. 

[indianato 157]

Wilson has to go. I hate saying it because that condemns IU to a few more losing seasons while a coaching staff gains traction. However, look at the writing on the wall for future teams under Wilson. I think it's safe to say that next year's team will not be as good as this one. New qb, Howard possible pro, graduations and the same old defense to go with it. If Wilson can't win with this team, he won't win with any future IU team. He hasn't earned an extension of his contract and without one, recruiting will probably suffer. IU needs to take the sour medicine after the season, get a new head coach and suffer a couple more losing seasons in favor of a brighter future.

[colonel06 1,913]

Couldn't agree more!

[jmhbone 18]

This loss is very painful to handle by everyone who is looking for better football outcomes this year.  The primary criticism I have had with Coach Kevin Wilson, is that he tends to "shutdown" the offense when we are clicking. We should start calling him Captain Shutdown, and everyone would identify with it.  One other thing, the defense just isn't that good or Rutgers would not be able to tag 55 on us.

I guess we need to keep pressing on so to speak.

[upperarlington 403]

It's like Jim Tressel coaching here in Columbus. Go conservative while leading.

They called it Tressel ball. Very frustrating.

Except the Buckeyes won a few more games than IU did.

[lilly 35]

Wilson is the problem. Boring predictable play calling instead of keeping the gas on....goes into conservative mode. It's on him and its ultimately on him.

[cthomas 5,917]

There's no point in looking for a new coach unless we are willing to spend the money to hire a proven winner. IU football is a dumpster fire and has been for decades through several different coaches. If we are not going to spend the money necessary to hire a top ten type coach then we might as well be happy with what we have.

[mdn82 25,456]

There's no point in looking for a new coach unless we are willing to spend the money to hire a proven winner. IU football is a dumpster fire and has been for decades through several different coaches. If we are not going to spend the money necessary to hire a top ten type coach then we might as well be happy with what we have.

Top ten coach???? Now that's just reaching.

[JSHoosier 19,568]

There's no point in looking for a new coach unless we are willing to spend the money to hire a proven winner. IU football is a dumpster fire and has been for decades through several different coaches. If we are not going to spend the money necessary to hire a top ten type coach then we might as well be happy with what we have.

Do you have any idea how much money it would take to bring a top 10 coach to IUFB?  It would take an amount not even Superman would be able to lift.  Not gonna happen.  That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do better, that's a defeatist attitude.

 

Offer Jeremy Pruitt a competitive salary.  If he doesn't bite go after someone like Rod Carey.  Either way we'd have to be willing to give the assistants competitive salaries too, which we should be anyway.  This "we're not gonna do any better" crap is a losers mentality.

[recker222000 1,010]

Iu football is bad and always will be. Some things will just never change






P

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[MartintheMopMan 7,765]

You know the one person you can't blame?

 

My man! Griffen Oakes!

[Brass Cannon 24,064]

The solution isn't to hire a top 10 coach. We just need a competent coach. With a track record of success at a smaller school. Basically we need to find another Hep

[JSHoosier 19,568]

Iu football is bad and always will be. Some things will just never change






P

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

No one is expecting us to compete for national titles in football, but even for IUFB a 52-27 lead should be safe especially when the opponent is Rutgers.  That's not just a "we're bad" moment, that's so pathetic someone should lose their job over it.

[cthomas 5,917]

What is a reasonable expectation for IU football? Are we hoping for a middle third of the conference most years? Do we want more? Our recruiting, while better, is still bottom half of the conference. We need something that will change the pattern. A loss like yesterday sets the program back in just about every way. I guess I just don't see why we can't be as good as teams like Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern, and Michigan State year in and year out.

[mdn82 25,456]

What is a reasonable expectation for IU football? Are we hoping for a middle third of the conference most years? Do we want more? Our recruiting, while better, is still bottom half of the conference. We need something that will change the pattern. A loss like yesterday sets the program back in just about every way. I guess I just don't see why we can't be as good as teams like Wisconsin, Iowa, Northwestern, and Michigan State year in and year out.

If you were to see their facilities and football revenue you would understand.

[GnarlyTimGarl 1,414]

A few thoughts... two days after the fact:

 

- I mentioned this right after Game #1 this year... there will be a few games when we look pretty good and there will be a few games where we look horrible. We just needed to play well in the "toss up" games because that would determine whether we were going bowling or not. We played well enough versus Western Kentucky and Wake Forest. And we absolutely killed ourselves in the 4th quarter of a very important game vs. a not-so-good Rutgers. IU football has little margin for error and it's so disappointing to see how one quarter of football can COMPLETELY change the outlook of the program.

 

- That being said, don't be a bit surprised if we don't give MSU, Iowa or Michigan a good game. I'll venture a guess that we'll play (at least) one of them very close. We've got a solid offense, especially when Howard returns and like I said vs. SIU, we don't have THAT bad of a defense normally. One of those squads will overlook us and we'll give them a scare. Unfortunately, playing close with these teams isn't good enough like it was vs. Ohio State. We need wins now. Gotta have wins.

 

- This means that Maryland and Purdue become what might be "must-wins." And we can still win them both. Yes, we looked horrible with how we lost to Rutgers. But have you watched Maryland and Purdue this year? They are capable of playing every bit as bad as we have played (and they have.) So the season is not over, yet.

 

- Some personnel observations: Really liked seeing Majette as an H-back sort of guy. Brings much needed speed and burst to the backfield that we have lacked this year. But he's a change of pace guy, not a run-up-the-middle type... Sudfeld had a great first three quarters. Amazing that he fell apart in the 4th... Good to see the receivers make some plays. Nice to see Fuchs catch a couple of TDs... Happy that Redding broke a long one. People have gone from saying "he's great" to "he stinks" but he's somewhere in the middle now and really needs a confidence boost (as do the rest of the team.)... The punt team has not been special all year and played a role in losing the game.

 

- One more note... there are some people who get so upset when people won't support IU Football after going 4-0 like we did or when we were 4-2. Games like Rutgers are why. These sort of things have plagued this program for a while. People don't want to invest their time in something when they know there is a good chance they'll get let down. They use the past as a predictor of the future. Is it always fair? No. But can you really blame them? They certainly look justified at this point in time. I'm a fan and I'll always be a fan of this football team. But with the gut-wrenching feeling I had leaving Memorial Stadium Saturday night, I can understand why others don't want to subject themselves to it.

[KingPG21 6,512]

A few thoughts... two days after the fact:

- I mentioned this right after Game #1 this year... there will be a few games when we look pretty good and there will be a few games where we look horrible. We just needed to play well in the "toss up" games because that would determine whether we were going bowling or not. We played well enough versus Western Kentucky and Wake Forest. And we absolutely killed ourselves in the 4th quarter of a very important game vs. a not-so-good Rutgers. IU football has little margin for error and it's so disappointing to see how one quarter of football can COMPLETELY change the outlook of the program.

- That being said, don't be a bit surprised if we don't give MSU, Iowa or Michigan a good game. I'll venture a guess that we'll play (at least) one of them very close. We've got a solid offense, especially when Howard returns and like I said vs. SIU, we don't have THAT bad of a defense normally. One of those squads will overlook us and we'll give them a scare. Unfortunately, playing close with these teams isn't good enough like it was vs. Ohio State. We need wins now. Gotta have wins.

- This means that Maryland and Purdue become what might be "must-wins." And we can still win them both. Yes, we looked horrible with how we lost to Rutgers. But have you watched Maryland and Purdue this year? They are capable of playing every bit as bad as we have played (and they have.) So the season is not over, yet.

- Some personnel observations: Really liked seeing Majette as an H-back sort of guy. Brings much needed speed and burst to the backfield that we have lacked this year. But he's a change of pace guy, not a run-up-the-middle type... Sudfeld had a great first three quarters. Amazing that he fell apart in the 4th... Good to see the receivers make some plays. Nice to see Fuchs catch a couple of TDs... Happy that Redding broke a long one. People have gone from saying "he's great" to "he stinks" but he's somewhere in the middle now and really needs a confidence boost (as do the rest of the team.)... The punt team has not been special all year and played a role in losing the game.

- One more note... there are some people who get so upset when people won't support IU Football after going 4-0 like we did or when we were 4-2. Games like Rutgers are why. These sort of things have plagued this program for a while. People don't want to invest their time in something when they know there is a good chance they'll get let down. They use the past as a predictor of the future. Is it always fair? No. But can you really blame them? They certainly look justified at this point in time. I'm a fan and I'll always be a fan of this football team. But with the gut-wrenching feeling I had leaving Memorial Stadium Saturday night, I can understand why others don't want to subject themselves to it.

To your last point. It gets to next levels of annoyance when certain posters never post when things are going well. It seems like they are just sitting waiting for something to go wrong so they can gripe about it. I'd don't care if your critical, but when your entire shtick is throwing out cynical one liners, that isn't really being critical. Also, it is funny when people come out with the "well I'm done with this team", then they find themselves commenting on the game the next week

[HoosierReb01 7,511]

To your last point. It gets to next levels of annoyance when certain posters never post when things are going well. It seems like they are just sitting waiting for something to go wrong so they can gripe about it. I'd don't care if your critical, but when your entire shtick is throwing out cynical one liners, that isn't really being critical. Also, it is funny when people come out with the "well I'm done with this team", then they find themselves commenting on the game the next week

Exactly. Critical thinking requires recognizing both the positive and the negatives. To be completely positive, or completely negative is always going to be annoying. We had 30 minutes of decent football Saturday, followed by about 10 minutes of great football, followed by 20 minutes of absolute crap. That meant for about 40 minutes there was something positive going on. Too bad some people never have anything to say until the SHTF moments.