Indiana Drops Close One to Louisville 21-14
DADDYHOOSIERXD | Sept 16, 2023
The final score is what ultimately matters. Indiana lost 21-14. The Hoosiers went 0-1 in Week 3 and this was one IU needed to find a way to get. The loss drops Tom Allen and company to 1-2 on the season. Fans are frustrated and you can understand why.
This team has played three games which is the first quarter of the season. We now have a large enough sample size to where we begin to have a decent feel for what we have in 2023 as far as this football team is concerned. Indiana has played a superior opponent (Ohio State), an inferior opponent (Indiana State), and a pretty even opponent (Louisville).
The news is not all bad. Clearly this team is better than last year. Their scheme feels more solid on both sides of the ball. They have talent on the field and leadership appears to be good. Tayven Jackson is a young quarterback who is still learning but he looks composed and doesn't appear to be in over his head. He’s only going to get better.
Fans would do well to try and think more like a coach or a player should think. As such I'm not a big fan of stacking wins and losses before the games are even played. Herm Edwards is right - you play to win the game.
That said, one of the popular ideas for 2023 is that Indiana has 2 probable wins (Indiana State and Akron), 3 probable losses (Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State) and 7 even or ‘toss-up’ games. The thinking is that in order to go to a Bowl IU needs to go 4-3 in the ‘toss-up’ games.
I must concede that this probably isn't far from the truth. Louisville was the first of these seven even matchups. Staring with a loss means Indiana will need to go 4-2 in the remaining 6 of these contests. This task is certainly achievable still but there's no question that staring with a win would have established momentum and made the road to six more manageable.
Now all of the sudden the road game at Maryland in two weeks becomes virtually a must-win. Lose that game in College Park and you're looking at a real uphill battle to get to the six win mark (and Bowl Eligibility).
The key to Indiana's 14-7 run over a two year stretch in 2019 and 2020 is the Hoosiers won just about out all of these evenly matched games. Since then they are dropping almost all of them.
Louisville
The difference in this game was 3 things:
*Jack Plummer made key plays in key moments for the Cardinals
*Louisville was able to establish a run game while Indiana wasn't
*Indiana shot itself in the foot in key moments
Senior Quarterback Jack Plummer didn't put up huge numbers but it seemed like every time Louisville needed a play Plummer found a way to make it. Whether it was zipping the ball into the soft spot of zone coverage or scrambling for yardage to keep the drive alive, Plummer showed that moxy and understanding of a true gamer.
It's easy to target Walt Bell and call him out for ‘poor playcalling’ but people need to understand that Tayven Jackson was a Freshman making his first true start today. This is still a work in progress and all things considered Tave looked pretty good today. He was 24 of 34 (.706) for 299 yards. He had 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His completion percentage through three games is over 70 percent and he has close to 600 yards throwing dispute splitting time with Brendan Sorsby.
Indiana fell behind 21-0 but to their credit they stayed in the game and kept fighting. A perfectly executed onside kick to open the second half allowed Indiana to steal a possession and to strike quickly. On just the third play of the drive Jackson hit Sophomore Jaylin Lucas for a 30-yard touchdown. Lucas came out of the backfield and ran down the seam and past Louisville defenders into the endzone.
Jaylin Lucas had 10 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown and 8 carries for 28 yards.
Later in the 3rd quarter Jackson and the Hoosiers put together a 13 play 97 yard drive that culminated in a Josh Henderson score, making it a one possession game.
4th Down Controversy
Indiana shut out a good Louisville offense in the second half. With less than five minutes remaining in the game the Hoosiers drove the ball into the Cardinal Red Zone and had a chance to tie the game. A third down scramble by Jackson reminiscent of the famous Penix pylon play set up 4th and goal from inside the 1 yardline. The Hoosiers gave the ball to Henderson and had him run behind big Matthew Bedford, but the Louisville defense was ready and stuffed the play.
So naturally, as is always the case, many are choosing to question the play call with the benefit of hindsight on their side. Henderson is a physical back and Indiana felt they had the physical advantage up front. The old school saying is ‘if you can't get a yard, you don't deserve to win.’
I always liked the play Peyton Ramsey ran so well at the goal line. He would take the snap, hesitate for maybe a half second and kind of drift right. Once he found a soft spot he would would punch it in there, then Stevie Scott would run up behind him and essentially tackle him forward into the end zone. The defense knew it was coming but they couldn't stop it.
Anyway I didn't have a problem with the play call, they just didn't execute it.
Looking Ahead
This defense led by Aaron Casey is going to keep Indiana in games. The offense has enough weapons to score some points and Walt Bell is an upgrade over Nick Sheridan. This team can get to six wins but they have to play smart football and they have to go out and take it. None of the matchup opponents are going to give Indiana anything. The Hoosiers will have to earn every inch.
If they stay the course and trust the process this team is going to win more football games this year.
---
(originally published on my substack)
DADDYHOOSIERXD | Sept 16, 2023
The final score is what ultimately matters. Indiana lost 21-14. The Hoosiers went 0-1 in Week 3 and this was one IU needed to find a way to get. The loss drops Tom Allen and company to 1-2 on the season. Fans are frustrated and you can understand why.
This team has played three games which is the first quarter of the season. We now have a large enough sample size to where we begin to have a decent feel for what we have in 2023 as far as this football team is concerned. Indiana has played a superior opponent (Ohio State), an inferior opponent (Indiana State), and a pretty even opponent (Louisville).
The news is not all bad. Clearly this team is better than last year. Their scheme feels more solid on both sides of the ball. They have talent on the field and leadership appears to be good. Tayven Jackson is a young quarterback who is still learning but he looks composed and doesn't appear to be in over his head. He’s only going to get better.
Fans would do well to try and think more like a coach or a player should think. As such I'm not a big fan of stacking wins and losses before the games are even played. Herm Edwards is right - you play to win the game.
That said, one of the popular ideas for 2023 is that Indiana has 2 probable wins (Indiana State and Akron), 3 probable losses (Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State) and 7 even or ‘toss-up’ games. The thinking is that in order to go to a Bowl IU needs to go 4-3 in the ‘toss-up’ games.
I must concede that this probably isn't far from the truth. Louisville was the first of these seven even matchups. Staring with a loss means Indiana will need to go 4-2 in the remaining 6 of these contests. This task is certainly achievable still but there's no question that staring with a win would have established momentum and made the road to six more manageable.
Now all of the sudden the road game at Maryland in two weeks becomes virtually a must-win. Lose that game in College Park and you're looking at a real uphill battle to get to the six win mark (and Bowl Eligibility).
The key to Indiana's 14-7 run over a two year stretch in 2019 and 2020 is the Hoosiers won just about out all of these evenly matched games. Since then they are dropping almost all of them.
Louisville
The difference in this game was 3 things:
*Jack Plummer made key plays in key moments for the Cardinals
*Louisville was able to establish a run game while Indiana wasn't
*Indiana shot itself in the foot in key moments
Senior Quarterback Jack Plummer didn't put up huge numbers but it seemed like every time Louisville needed a play Plummer found a way to make it. Whether it was zipping the ball into the soft spot of zone coverage or scrambling for yardage to keep the drive alive, Plummer showed that moxy and understanding of a true gamer.
It's easy to target Walt Bell and call him out for ‘poor playcalling’ but people need to understand that Tayven Jackson was a Freshman making his first true start today. This is still a work in progress and all things considered Tave looked pretty good today. He was 24 of 34 (.706) for 299 yards. He had 1 touchdown and 1 interception. His completion percentage through three games is over 70 percent and he has close to 600 yards throwing dispute splitting time with Brendan Sorsby.
Indiana fell behind 21-0 but to their credit they stayed in the game and kept fighting. A perfectly executed onside kick to open the second half allowed Indiana to steal a possession and to strike quickly. On just the third play of the drive Jackson hit Sophomore Jaylin Lucas for a 30-yard touchdown. Lucas came out of the backfield and ran down the seam and past Louisville defenders into the endzone.
Jaylin Lucas had 10 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown and 8 carries for 28 yards.
Later in the 3rd quarter Jackson and the Hoosiers put together a 13 play 97 yard drive that culminated in a Josh Henderson score, making it a one possession game.
4th Down Controversy
Indiana shut out a good Louisville offense in the second half. With less than five minutes remaining in the game the Hoosiers drove the ball into the Cardinal Red Zone and had a chance to tie the game. A third down scramble by Jackson reminiscent of the famous Penix pylon play set up 4th and goal from inside the 1 yardline. The Hoosiers gave the ball to Henderson and had him run behind big Matthew Bedford, but the Louisville defense was ready and stuffed the play.
So naturally, as is always the case, many are choosing to question the play call with the benefit of hindsight on their side. Henderson is a physical back and Indiana felt they had the physical advantage up front. The old school saying is ‘if you can't get a yard, you don't deserve to win.’
I always liked the play Peyton Ramsey ran so well at the goal line. He would take the snap, hesitate for maybe a half second and kind of drift right. Once he found a soft spot he would would punch it in there, then Stevie Scott would run up behind him and essentially tackle him forward into the end zone. The defense knew it was coming but they couldn't stop it.
Anyway I didn't have a problem with the play call, they just didn't execute it.
Looking Ahead
This defense led by Aaron Casey is going to keep Indiana in games. The offense has enough weapons to score some points and Walt Bell is an upgrade over Nick Sheridan. This team can get to six wins but they have to play smart football and they have to go out and take it. None of the matchup opponents are going to give Indiana anything. The Hoosiers will have to earn every inch.
If they stay the course and trust the process this team is going to win more football games this year.
---
(originally published on my substack)
