Hoosiers: What’s Hot and What’s Cold
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Assistant Editor
Each week I’ll run down what’s hot and what’s cold with Indiana football. Here’s my take from Saturday’s 42-28 loss to Michigan State:
HOT
Tre Roberson – Quarterback sparks offense to tying score in second quarter, completing all three passes for 35 yards, the last a 3-yard connection to Cody Latimer in the front left corner of the end zone. Reenters the game late and finishes 11-of-17 for 122 yards and two touchdown passes with one interception. Gained 20 yards on five rushes.
Ted Bolser – While the senior tight end didn’t play particularly well (a meaningless late touchdown notwithstanding), he did surpass 100 catches for his career. That’s a milestone worth recognizing. Bolser is also 29 receiving yards shy of tying Bob Stephenson for the school’s career record by a tight end.
Tevin Coleman – Running back carries 15 times for 79 yards and a touchdown and catches a pass for 20 yards. Coaches needed to get him more touches. Coleman did his part.
Matt Dooley – Long snapper makes a play he’ll remember the rest of his life. At 6-foot-4 and 252 pounds, Dooley beats the pack downfield and is in position to tackle a punt returner in the second quarter. Instead, the catch is muffed and Dooley recovers the fumble. Junior from Arizona is in his third season as long snapper and has a rare moment in the sun.
COLD
Nate Sudfeld – It’s easy to forget he’s just a sophomore. What was clear Saturday is that he’s not quite ready to execute at a high level against a good team in a hostile environment. Sudfeld is still learning to make independent adjustments on the fly.
Run defense – The defense in general was bad. But Spartan backs Jeremy Langford and Delton Williams combined for 35 carries that gained 201 yards. That is 5.7 yards a pop. Williams is a freshman. Indiana will not win ceding so much.
Tackling – This goes hand-in-hand with getting gashed on the ground, but it also applies to the passing game and members of Indiana’s secondary. Nobody out there Saturday could make a tackle.
Consistency – The season is half over. At 3-3, how Indiana will look from week to week has been a perpetual mystery. What helps is that the Hoosiers have shown flashes of excellence in all three phases. The trouble has been repeating success from one drive to the next and from one game to another.
Old Brass Spittoon – For a fifth straight year, Michigan State will have possession of the series trophy.
Follow Chris Goff on Twitter: chrisgoff_ISL.
