Troubling Trends Lead to Poor Grades for Indiana After Shutout Loss at Penn State
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Tom Allen was very clear during his postgame press conference on Saturday night after his Hoosiers got slapped around by Penn State in a 24-0 defeat that was as one-sided as it sounds.
The Hoosiers were simply overmatched in the game, especially on offense, where nothing went right for much of the night. There were some good things from the defense, but what's clear is that this Indiana team has some issues, and their brutal schedule is amplifying those flaws.
Indiana is 2-3 this season now, and their schedule and the Associated Press top-five look eerily similar. Their losses have come to No. 3 Iowa, No. 5 Cincinnati and now No. 4 Penn State.
That's tough.
But it's still also disappointing that the Hoosiers weren't even competitive on Saturday night. So let's dole out the grades for the Penn State game in our fifth report card of the season. It won't be pinned to the refrigerator with any stars, that's for sure.
Here we go:
Passing offense: D
Any time a team hangs a bagel on you, it's hard to be nice with an offense that gets shut out. Nothing about the offense was good, outside of a handful of nice pass plays.
Michael Penix Jr. was 10-for-22 passing for 118 yards with an interception. He had a nice 35-yard catch-and-run with Peyton Hendershot early, but that was his only completion in his first 10 throws. He also found Miles Marshall down the left sideline for 34 yards, but his other eight completions accounted for just 39 yards, and he left in the second half with a shoulder injury and did not return.
Jack Tuttle came in and was 6-for-12 passing for 77 yards. He came in and completed his first three passes, and did some good things. But he did throw an ugly interception late, hanging the ball out in the middle of the field.
The passing game is still struggling, in all phases. The offensive line isn't giving the quarterbacks enough time to throw, and there are still too many drops. It all needs to get better, and soon.
The only real positive to me is that tight end Peyton Hendershot had his second straight great game. He had five catches for 88 yards after getting 100 a week earlier, and he's looking like the best tight end in the Big Ten to me.
Rushing offense: D-minus
Indiana had just 69 yards rushing on 24 carries and, sadly, a lot of those came late in the game with the outcome was no longer in doubt. Sure, it's hard to run on Penn State's all-star defense, and no one does well doing it, but you've got to find a way to get something accomplished. Indiana did none of that.
The offensive line has to be better. The problems in the running game start there. Stephen Carr is a good back who runs hard, but there was literally nowhere to go Saturday. Part of it was scheme too, so blame with the coaching staff will be coming in a few more categories. This grade, though, is as much on the coaches as it is the players, if not more so
Pass defense: B-minus
Indiana's defense played hard and got zero help from the other side of the ball. Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford was 17-for-33 passing for 178 yards, and he had three touchdown passes, two to all-world wide receiver Jahan Dotson, plus one interception.
The pick came from safety Raheem Layne late in the first quarter, and it was just Indiana's second interception all year, and the first from the secondary. He did a great job on breaking on the ball, and returned it to the Penn State 13-yard line.
There were a few breakdowns here and there, but for the most part, this group played pretty well. With you factor in that Tiawan Mullen didn't play at all because of an injury and Reese Taylor went out in the second half, this was a pretty good performance, all things considered.
Rush defense: C-minus
Penn State has struggled to run the ball for a lot of this season, but it wasn't a problem against Indiana, which had a few gap breakdowns and allowed several big plays, which doesn't usually happen.
Penn State had 209 yards rushing on 42 carries, with Keyvone Lee leading the way with 77 yards on just eight carries. He broke free for a 44-yard run. Clifford also hurt them with his legs, gaining 58 yards and converting several third downs with scrambles.
This group needs to clean up some things before the Michigan State and Ohio State games coming up on this homestand in two weeks. I really want to see better play from the interior of Indiana's defensive line for starters. This needs to get better.
Special teams: C-minus
Charles Campbell has been perfect all year, but he had a field goal attempt blocked in the second half for the unit's first ding all year. The snap and hold were good, but the blocking was awful. That needs to get fixed.
Punter James Evans might have been the player of the game for Indiana, and that's never a good sign. He had eight punts, and averaged 45.9 yards per kick
Coaching: D
Indiana simply had no answers on offense, and you can blame some of that on execution, but the game plan was flawed, too. Indiana ran the ball inside too much, and had very little to show for it. I've been really disappointed in how Indiana's running game has worked so far this year. There seems to be very little creativity, and the offensive line hasn't gotten any better. Again, coaches need to take some of that blame, too.
I also questioned Tom Allen going for it on fourth down inside the 10 early in the second quarter after the Raheem Layne interception. It was 7-0 Penn State at the time, and kicking the field goal and maintaining momentum would have been a good thing. Allen's argument that you have to score touchdowns on the road to win isn't outlandish, but momentum there was a factor. Penn State grabbed it back and went 96 yards for a score on their next drive, and the game was basically over by then.
Fans ripped him for attempting a field goal after a nice drive by Tuttle when the score was 21-0. To be honest, I didn't have a problem with that decision. Indiana wasn't going to win that game anyway, and it would be good for Tuttle's confidence to finish a drive with points. That was the blocked kick.
Intangibles: Incomplete
What do say in a blowout? That the punting was good? I've got nothing. The Hoosiers need this bye week desperately.
It's time to regroup.
Previous Indiana football report cards
- INDIANA-IOWA (Week 1): It was hard to find any positives in Indiana's 34-6 loss to Iowa in the season opener, a deflating beatdown in a showdown between two ranked teams. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA-IDAHO (Week 2): Indiana dominates Idaho, winning 56-14 thanks to an epic night by all of the Hoosiers' special teams. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA-CINCINNATI (Week 3): Indiana has four turnovers and loses a game to Cincinnati that they really should have won. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA-WESTERN KENTUCKY (Week 4): Indiana got some record-setting nights from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and kicker Charles Campbell during a 33-31 win at Western Kentucky. CLICK HERE
