First Thoughts: Wisconsin 51, Indiana 3
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Assistant Editor
Quick thoughts on the Hoosiers’ 51-3 loss to Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium:
What it means: The Hoosiers were terrible. Again against Wisconsin, this was one of those games that was just flat-out ugly and that you want to forget as soon as it’s over with. The Badgers held the ball for 37:45 and were never worried about the outcome after scoring two touchdowns in the first three minutes. The Hoosiers dropped to 4-6 and must win their final two games to become bowl eligible. They have a lot of work to do but have six days to sort things out and get some injured players back.
28-point streak snapped: The Hoosiers had entered the game having scored 28 or more points in 10 straight games. They would have extended the program record had they made it 11, but the offense couldn’t find a groove until the eighth drive. Penn State was the last defense to hold the Hoosiers to fewer than 28, getting it done on Nov. 17, 2012. It was really the first time all season the offense failed to deliver.
Defense shredded: The Hoosiers needed their defense to dig deep and keep them in the game with the offense unable to generate anything. The D predictably flopped. Giving the opposition 51 points is almost never going to get the job done. Although the Hoosiers occasionally rose up in the red zone and on third down, the Badgers had no problem moving the ball and gained a whopping 676 yards. Somehow, the Badgers averaged 10.4 yards a snap, a figure that is unacceptable for Doug Mallory’s defense, especially facing 49 rushes and just 15 passes. Indiana is on pace to allow the most yards in a single season in Big Ten history. From that vantage point, Kevin Wilson will have to contemplate changes to his defensive staff.
Turnovers change game early: The Hoosiers entered the day with a minus-2 turnover differential, while the Badgers were plus-2. The Hoosiers were very sloppy, throwing an interception and losing a fumble on their first two drives. Indiana fumbled on two other occasions but managed to recover. All week the thought here was that Indiana needed to force Wisconsin into some big mistakes, but it was Nate Sudfeld and the Hoosiers who were more mistake-prone. Sudfeld’s first-drive interception after the offense had moved 30 yards into Badger territory was a pass he’ll likely kick himself about in the coming days. Sudfeld was given time but fired a woefully underthrown deep ball. The Hoosiers couldn’t afford the mistakes.
Quiet day for Wynn and Bolser: Wisconsin’s defense did a nice job limiting two of Indiana’s main threats. Shane Wynn finished with two catches for 12 yards, while Ted Bolser failed to catch a ball.
What’s next. The Hoosiers travel to Columbus, Ohio to face the Buckeyes on Saturday, Nov. 23.
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Halftime Thoughts
This is hardly a surprise.
On the one hand, the Badgers deserve credit for continued dominance. On the other hand, it’s yet another humiliation for the Hoosiers, who at 4-5 are basically playing for their season (aren’t the dreary conditions in Madison fitting?).
Let’s take a closer look at the Hoosiers.
After a scoreless first quarter, they remained dormant in the second (seven possessions for just 84 yards of offense in the half). Overall, they were hurt by losing two turnovers, and this is becoming a real issue – their tendency to give the ball away (they entered with a minus-2 differential, tied for 75th in the Football Bowl Subdivision).
The turnovers:
1. Nate Sudfeld interception on an underthrown deep ball, picked by Sojourn Shelton.
2. Stephen Houston fumble on a handoff from Sudfeld in which Houston seemed to have the ball in his grasp but lost the handle as he began to make a move (recovered easily by Wisconsin’s Brendan Kelly).
From a strategic perspective, the Hoosiers are continuing to switch back and forth on quarterbacks, even with both struggling. Houston, an experienced senior, is getting the majority of snaps at tailback without Tevin Coleman and has five carries for 27 yards. He was a mild bright spot. Also, freshman linebacker Clyde Newton has really made an impact with more playing time in the last two weeks, reading a misdirection play and stopping a Wisconsin back out on the edge in the first quarter, and then dropping Joel Stave for a sack in the second.
The Hoosiers’ defense was hanging tough early, but after a scoreless first quarter by the offense, all indications were this was an early victory for Wisconsin.
That never changed — thanks to a combination of Badgers execution and Hoosiers ineptitude — and had the fans at Camp Randall Stadium chanting for more beer.
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Third-quarter Thoughts
1. Solid coaching and execution to come out of the halftime break in the hurry-up offense, continuing to press the issue against Wisconsin. Persistence. Although a costly delay of game on third-and-goal from the 1 killed the drive, the Hoosiers had turned to a four-receiver, one-running back attack that methodically picked the Badgers apart.
2. Melvin Gordon and James White = unstoppable.
3. A lightning strike apparently occurred 15 miles from Camp Randall Stadium, putting the possibility of a weather delay on the table.
4. The Hoosiers gave Ryan Thompson work at Michael Hunter’s right corner spot in the third quarter. Those are valuable game snaps for Thompson, who moved from safety in the spring and has played fairly well when given opportunities. Thompson was in on a few tackles in run support.
5. The linebacker rotation has remained the same, with Clyde Newton and Marcus Oliver getting time over Griffen Dahlstrom (unofficially zero snaps in the game).
6. The Hoosiers’ first third-down conversion of the game came with just over 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
7. Nate Sudfeld is 9-of-21 for 99 yards, the type of performance which will regenerate questions about his confidence.
8. Kofi Hughes is up to 60 yards receiving on the day. This is his 14th career game with 60-plus yards receiving.
9. Mitch Ewald’s 23-yard field goal makes him 9-for-9 on the season. It also gives Ewald 10 straight field goals made, tying him for the second-longest streak in school history.
10. Cody Latimer caught the 123rd pass of his career, taking over ninth place on Indiana’s career receptions list.
Follow Chris Goff on Twitter: chrisgoff_ISL.
