Report Card: Effort was there, but result wasn’t for Indiana against Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. — It was there for the taking Saturday afternoon in Spartan Stadium. Indiana played well enough to win and end its 18-year losing streak against ranked conference opponents. But just a play or two made the difference between winning and losing, and the Hoosiers went down 40-31 in a game that was much closer than the final score appears.

With the loss, the Hoosiers fell to 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big Ten. They are off this week, but then return home to Bloomington to face Rutgers for Homecoming on Oct. 12.

Here’s how the Hoosiers graded out in my fifth Report Card of the season:

Rushing offense: B

Michigan State has had the best run defense in the country for going on two years now, so it’s really hard to ground out anything against them. But the Hoosiers did just fine, for the most part, having just enough balance really helped the offense overall. Stevie Scott had 66 yards on 18 carries (a respectable 3.7 average) and had a couple of big runs in the second half, including a 19-yarder on Indiana’s go-ahead drive

Considering the offensive line was in flux after losing senior Coy Crunk to a season-ending injury last week, this was a job well done for the Hoosiers. They're definitely making progress in this area.

Passing offense: A-minus

It was so good to see Michael Penix Jr. back in the lineup after missing two-plus weeks with a shoulder injury. All he did was set a school record with 20 consecutive completions, the second-longest streak in Big Ten history. He finished the day 33 of 42 passing for 286 yards.

The passing game was effective all day, especially the short stuff on the perimeter, which was there for the taking. That was evident in Whop Philyer’s numbers. The junior from Tampa had 14 catches for 142 yards and two touchdowns. The only knock at all was all the near-misses on the deep balls. Indiana came close to hitting a few, but they were just a click off. That part of the Hoosiers offense, which can be deadly, is so close to exploding.

Rush defense: B-plus

Indiana has been stressing better run fits all year and the rush defense was very good against Michigan State running back Elijah Collins the Spartans running backs, who had only 62 yards on 20 carries, a 3.1-yard average.

What hurt, though, was Michigan State quarterback Brian Lewerke getting free for big runs too often. He converted a few critical third downs with his legs and had a back-breaking 30-yard run on the final drive to give the Spartans the win. Lewerke led them in rushing with 78 yards on 12 carries.

Pass defense: C-minus

Michigan State has a couple of tall, dominant receivers in Cody White and Darrell Stewart Jr., and they had a field day in the Hoosiers’ secondary on Saturday. Lewerke, who has struggled a bit at times in the past few years, torched the Hoosiers for 300 yards passing. Raheem Layne and Andre Brown Jr. had a hard time keeping up, and the pass rush kept coming up just short in getting to Lewerke, not recording a single sack all day.

The one real positive was the continued great play of true freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen. He had four pass breakups on key plays to lead the team, and his coverage was great. The kid is already proving that he’s going to be a star.

Special teams: C-minus

Coverage teams were mostly good and kicker Logan Justus remains perfect on the season, making his only field goal (26 yards) and all four extra points, and Hayden Whitehead averaged 45.8 yards on his five punts. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that two huge blunders on special teams really cost the Hoosiers in this game. I’ll never understand why Whop Philyor keeps fielding punts inside the 5-yard line. He did it again right before halftime and it left the Hoosiers in horrible field position. They couldn’t convert and Michigan State got the ball back and was able to score a quick touchdown on a short field right before halftime. A fourth-quarter blunder — a holding penalty that negated a long punt return — also hurt. This unit was pretty sharp early in the season, but there have been too many errors lately. That stuff needs to get cleaned up.

Coaching: B

Kudos to this coaching staff for having the Hoosiers really ready to play Saturday. The level of energy was awesome. The effort was there, and so was the execution, for the most part. On offense, coordinator Kalen DeBoer had a great plan for attacking this tough Michigan State defense, and it certainly helped having Penix back to run it. He took what MSU gave them, and the short passing game was sharp and crisp. I shook my head only a few times, most notably the odd call to run true freshman Sampson James sideways on a fourth-down try. The Hoosiers were solid on offense, and credit goes to offensive line coach Darren Hiller for having that group playing at a high level, even after losing leader Coy Crunk to a season-ending injury.

The defense never seemed to find its traction. The lack of finishing off a pass rush — zero sacks and just a handful of pressures early — was a factor and it exposed Indiana’s corners a bit too much. This defense still needs to turn up the pressure a notch. And not accounting for Lewerke on a few long runs was a scheme issue, as well. That can't keep happening.

Intangibles: A

I’m leaving this grade as an A for one reason — the Hoosiers played their hearts out. They left it all out there on the field, and that led to an emotional locker room afterward, where a few tears were shed after this difficult loss that was there for the taking.

They are getting better, and they are getting close to beating decent teams on the road. It’ll come. “We’re disappointed, but we’re not discouraged,’’ Indiana coach Tom Allen said. He’s right. Maybe Indiana hasn’t turned the corner yet, but at least they’re starting the see the corner a little better from here.

Column: Being close still really hurts

Follow Tom Brew on Twitter @tombrewsports

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