But there were some good things that came out of today.
"B-But it was Indiana!", says pity party guest #1. Ah, yes it was. But it's also increasingly apparent we're not going to beat anyone real pretty anymore. It should also be noted that in Indiana's last 7 games at home against ranked opponents before today, they've been within 1 score or even led in the 4th quarter in 6 of them. Including 1 win.
That one exception being OSU this year, but they managed to lead that game in the 2nd half and only trailed by 8 with 16 minutes left. In fact of those 7 games, they only never led in the 2nd half in 2 of them (Iowa 2014 and Nebraska 2016). They never led at any point today.
"B-But it was Indiana!"... Yes, it was. Indiana was near the bottom of the FBS when it came to forcing turnovers with only 4 (1 INT and 3 fumbles). But it should be noted we've played an Air Force team that has forced only 3, Florida who has forced 5 and Cincinnati and Purdue both with 7. And those are their totals AFTER playing us. Heck, even MSU only has 4 forced turnovers not counting the 5 we gave them. So not turning it over against anyone is good for this offense.
We had 12 turnovers coming into this game, 5 of them INTs and 7 fumbles. We've also had an additional 3 fumbles elsewhere (2 recovered by us, 1 on our punter on 4th down that technically doesn't count as turnover I guess). So again, today we don't turn it over and don't even put it on the ground once. Just look past the iffy PI call on their INT that was called back.
Perhaps the most impressive improvement is not allowing a sack. While Indiana isn't world class when it comes to generating sacks, they've actually been pretty good this year. They were tied for 33rd in the nation coming into today with 14 sacks. It may surprise you to know that that was the most sacks for a defense we've played all year.. Florida has 13, Cinci has 6, Air Force has 4, Purdue has 5 and MSU has 13.. And again, those are their totals AFTER playing us.
We allowed 16 sacks coming into today. (5 vs Florida, 1 vs Cinci, 2 vs AF, 4 vs PU and 4 vs MSU)
That's an average of 3.2 allowed per game. So to not allow one against the team with the most sacks out of anyone we've played when we've allowed teams with virtually no pass rush look like the greatest DLine's of all time against us? I'd say pretty damn impressive. I only recall 2 plays where O'Korn really had to put any effort into avoiding a sack, so credit to our pass blocking we did only drop back 21 times.
As anemic as our offense looks and feels, you have to like this number. We get 271 yards rushing on 44 carries (6.2ypc) Led by Higdon's 200 yards on 25. I think we found our #1 back. But, even prior to this game we've found success on the ground outside of a monsoon. Even counting running in said monsoon, we're now averaging 185 yards rushing per game with an average yards per carry of 4.3 which will put us in the top 40% of the country in rushing, which combined with our defense is a nice combination if we can keep it up and could negate any dependence on O'Korn and our receivers.
The biggest question mark of this season. Had a minor test against Purdue and even more so MSU and today. They passed all 3. While our 2nd in the nation passing yard allowed average of 126 will take a hit after allowing 198 today, we held an IU team that was averaging 260 through the air (2nd most of all our opponents so far, only behind Purdue) to under 200 and a QB with a 69% completion percentage to under 50%. Next week is obviously an even bigger test, but I think our secondary has already eliminated most doubt about whether they can handle McSorely who is one of the 2 remaining good passing QBs on the schedule.
So all in all, an OT win at IU is not some confirmation of the boogeyman or a 5 loss season. It's a confirmation of a defense that can win us any game as long as our offense does enough and doesn't screw it up themselves. It's a confirmation that we won't win any game pretty besides Rutgers and maaaybe Maryland. Indiana isn't a great team but they certainly aren't bad. We go out and win in OT against someone like Rutgers then I'd be concerned. With no turnovers, you'd like to see a more impressive win against someone like IU but we were leading by 13 with 3 minutes left. Questionable coaching down the stretch (conservative, punting to a good return man etc.) and penalties all game really impacted the final score, I believe.
Bottom line is, clean up the penalties and carry over the lack of turnovers and sacks into next week and we're at least going down to the wire against PSU..
1. We won
"B-But it was Indiana!", says pity party guest #1. Ah, yes it was. But it's also increasingly apparent we're not going to beat anyone real pretty anymore. It should also be noted that in Indiana's last 7 games at home against ranked opponents before today, they've been within 1 score or even led in the 4th quarter in 6 of them. Including 1 win.
That one exception being OSU this year, but they managed to lead that game in the 2nd half and only trailed by 8 with 16 minutes left. In fact of those 7 games, they only never led in the 2nd half in 2 of them (Iowa 2014 and Nebraska 2016). They never led at any point today.
2. No Turnovers
"B-But it was Indiana!"... Yes, it was. Indiana was near the bottom of the FBS when it came to forcing turnovers with only 4 (1 INT and 3 fumbles). But it should be noted we've played an Air Force team that has forced only 3, Florida who has forced 5 and Cincinnati and Purdue both with 7. And those are their totals AFTER playing us. Heck, even MSU only has 4 forced turnovers not counting the 5 we gave them. So not turning it over against anyone is good for this offense.
We had 12 turnovers coming into this game, 5 of them INTs and 7 fumbles. We've also had an additional 3 fumbles elsewhere (2 recovered by us, 1 on our punter on 4th down that technically doesn't count as turnover I guess). So again, today we don't turn it over and don't even put it on the ground once. Just look past the iffy PI call on their INT that was called back.
3. No Sacks Allowed
Perhaps the most impressive improvement is not allowing a sack. While Indiana isn't world class when it comes to generating sacks, they've actually been pretty good this year. They were tied for 33rd in the nation coming into today with 14 sacks. It may surprise you to know that that was the most sacks for a defense we've played all year.. Florida has 13, Cinci has 6, Air Force has 4, Purdue has 5 and MSU has 13.. And again, those are their totals AFTER playing us.
We allowed 16 sacks coming into today. (5 vs Florida, 1 vs Cinci, 2 vs AF, 4 vs PU and 4 vs MSU)
That's an average of 3.2 allowed per game. So to not allow one against the team with the most sacks out of anyone we've played when we've allowed teams with virtually no pass rush look like the greatest DLine's of all time against us? I'd say pretty damn impressive. I only recall 2 plays where O'Korn really had to put any effort into avoiding a sack, so credit to our pass blocking we did only drop back 21 times.
4. 271 Yards Rushing
As anemic as our offense looks and feels, you have to like this number. We get 271 yards rushing on 44 carries (6.2ypc) Led by Higdon's 200 yards on 25. I think we found our #1 back. But, even prior to this game we've found success on the ground outside of a monsoon. Even counting running in said monsoon, we're now averaging 185 yards rushing per game with an average yards per carry of 4.3 which will put us in the top 40% of the country in rushing, which combined with our defense is a nice combination if we can keep it up and could negate any dependence on O'Korn and our receivers.
5. Young Secondary Has Proven Itself
The biggest question mark of this season. Had a minor test against Purdue and even more so MSU and today. They passed all 3. While our 2nd in the nation passing yard allowed average of 126 will take a hit after allowing 198 today, we held an IU team that was averaging 260 through the air (2nd most of all our opponents so far, only behind Purdue) to under 200 and a QB with a 69% completion percentage to under 50%. Next week is obviously an even bigger test, but I think our secondary has already eliminated most doubt about whether they can handle McSorely who is one of the 2 remaining good passing QBs on the schedule.
Conclusion
So all in all, an OT win at IU is not some confirmation of the boogeyman or a 5 loss season. It's a confirmation of a defense that can win us any game as long as our offense does enough and doesn't screw it up themselves. It's a confirmation that we won't win any game pretty besides Rutgers and maaaybe Maryland. Indiana isn't a great team but they certainly aren't bad. We go out and win in OT against someone like Rutgers then I'd be concerned. With no turnovers, you'd like to see a more impressive win against someone like IU but we were leading by 13 with 3 minutes left. Questionable coaching down the stretch (conservative, punting to a good return man etc.) and penalties all game really impacted the final score, I believe.
Bottom line is, clean up the penalties and carry over the lack of turnovers and sacks into next week and we're at least going down to the wire against PSU..
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