Home, sweet home, as the saying goes. Not so much for Indiana, though, who hasn’t won a conference game in Bloomington since September of 2022.
After today’s 31-14 beatdown to Rutgers (6-2), Indiana (2-5) finds themselves on a three-game losing streak to open conference play.
The Hoosiers dropped their third straight game – all by double digits. In fact, this was Indiana’s fourth straight loss to a Big Ten opponent, dropping Tom Allen’s record against conference opponents to 2-20 since 2021.
“I think it’s a reality that you get to this stage in the year and you’ve got several losses in a row,” Allen said. “That’s a tough reality. You’ve got to address it head-on, and you’ve got to really work hard together to help your guys.”
The problems for this program stem much bigger than just the quarterback position. Earlier this season, the Hoosiers couldn’t convert in the red zone. Last week, the offense didn’t have an answer for Michigan’s adjustments. Today, special teams was the difference.
Rutgers defensive back Shaquan Loyal blocked James Evans’ punt, which was returned for a touchdown by Eric Rogers to put Rutgers up seven in the second quarter. Loyal was an unblocked defender, meaning that this was a mental error by the Hoosiers.
“They out-executed us in that regard, in regards to being able to get the call they wanted in,” Allen said. “In those situations, we have to make sure every single guy, when they are bringing all those guys, everyone has to make [their] block.”
Later in the same quarter, another major mishap. Safety Louis Moore was ejected for a helmet-to-helmet hit that extended a Rutgers scoring drive. He would be ejected from the game and Indiana would lose another member of their secondary, who was already missing Noah Pierre, who left the contest with an injury.
The mental errors for the Hoosiers’ continued in the second quarter, which turned to be the start of the turning point in this game.
With the game tied at 14 apiece, Nick James sacked Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt on third down to force a punt just before halftime. On the next play, Jaylin Lucas muffed the punt and Rutgers recovered. That led to a Rutgers field goal and a three-point lead going into halftime.
Rutgers opened the second half with 12 play, 75-yard drive that ended in a Rutgers touchdown. This score would extend their lead to 10, one that they would control the rest of the ballgame.
The Scarlett Knights scored 10 points on two, self-inflicted, Indiana mistakes on special teams. Take away those ten points and the Hoosiers would have been within one score of tying the game.
“We’ve got to do a better job as coaches, make better calls, and put them in better positions, and those guys got to finish as well,” Allen said. “You just continue to teach how to handle challenging times and how to handle a chance to put a stake in the ground and change momentum, which is what we need to do.”
The knockout blow for Indiana came early in the 4th quarter when Wimsatt rushed for an 80-yard touchdown to put Rutgers up by 17. The Hoosiers offense struggled to consistently move the ball, a problem that has hindered the offense all season.
Brendan Sorsby started under center for Indiana today, his second start this season and his first since week one. However, Sorsby had opportunities for big plays on offense but failed to capitalize on them.
“I missed a couple of throws that I’m gonna want back,” Sorsby said. “But overall I feel like the offense executed just a couple of miscues that stalled some drives… We fix those, drives keep going, points keep going on the board, it’s just small things that end up being big things.”
In almost all of Indiana’s losses in recent memory, there are a few glaring developments that the team fails to address. The constant quarterback rotation is one, but failing to adjust to the opponent is another, much bigger problem that Allen cannot solve.
Like last week, the offense found success early on but could not sustain long drives. Also like last week, the offense failed to score again in the second half.
“We’ve got to execute better in regards to scoring more points,” Allen said. “We haven’t scored enough points to win games and keep the defense off of the field.”
Allen is the fourth longest-tenured head coach in the conference but has yet to win a bowl game as the head coach. Unless his team manages to win four of their last five games, Indiana will fail to reach six wins once again.
Indiana’s schedule will get easier toward the end of the season, but a trip to Beaver Stadium next weekend doesn’t make this team’s chances of a bowl game much better.
“Not a good situation to be in, not a good place to be, without question,” Allen said. “But it falls on me. I’m the one in charge. I’m the one responsible. This is on me.”
