One more look back: Rutgers

It's best to just do this review quickly after witnessing what we all did on Saturday.

The Good

1. Nothing: Not a single, solitary thing. Too harsh? Maybe. No actually, maybe not harsh enough. Is it possible to say that the goodwill built by the 4-0 start for the Hoosiers is now gone? Is it possible to say that a single Saturday afternoon loss to Rutgers has cast a cloud over Kevin Wilson's entire regime in Bloomington? Who knows. Before what happened Saturday, Division I teams were undefeated when leading by 25 points or more at any point in a game this season. Now we have one obvious exception. If not for Michigan derping away the final punt to lose at home against Michigan State, the collective view of the Big Ten would be in the familiar spot of pointing and laughing at another absolute Indiana debacle. Ridiculous. Absolutely positively ridiculous.

The Bad

1. Offense: So you can say a team that scored 52 points in less than three full quarters was bad and keep a straight face? Yep, you sure can when it applies to Indiana football. You could fill out a Mad Libs of how to blow a big lead late and Indiana checked off ever single on on offense. The running game went non existent. Quarterback Nate Sudfeld threw two bad interceptions. The passing game, so consistently beating Rutgers with crossing patters and plays down the field, resorted to ineffective quick outs and screens that went nowhere. Bad. Just bad.

2. Defense: Phase two in the how to create an absolute debacle is a unit that looked at times to be playing neighborhood two-hand touch rather than Big Ten football. Never confused for a prolific Division I super offense, the Scarlet Knights were four yards away from reaching 600 for the game and went for 55 points - nearly three touchdowns better than they have against any other Division I foe. How is any of this possible? Who knows? It's Indiana, it just happens.

3. Special teams: And we've completed the debacle loss, total meltdown hat trick. Everyone in Memorial Stadium probably knew what was about to happen the second that the ball was snapped over the head of punter Erich Toth and scooped up by Rutgers for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter. If the rock of momentum wasn't already rolling allowing a quick special teams score turned it into a boulder that Indiana wasn't about to make any effort to stop.

4. Coaching: Let's make sure no one gets left out. Most seem to be in agreement that Kevin Wilson needs a bowl berth to save his job after this season. Despite gains in recruiting, improved facilities and "buzz" around the program for the first time since the peak of Terry Hoeppner's tenure, Wilson could not afford another sub-.500 season. With four non-conference wins, it looked like a near lock for IU. Now what? Find two more wins on Indiana's schedule. Take your time because you may be looking for a while. Unbeaten Michigan State? Unbeaten Iowa? Home against a reborn Michigan with Jim Harbaugh? Road games against Maryland and Purdue? Three of those games look simply unwinnable. Expecting two road wins against the Terrapins and Boilermakers is probably a tad optimistic. Indiana's margin for error, already paper thin, is now gone. Every year of his tenure in Bloomington, Wilson seems to suffer one loss that the fan base looks back at and says "if only we hadn't blow it against (blank)". If this Rutgers game proves to be that effort this season, who knows if Wilson can survive.