CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Saturday’s game was another classic tale of Indiana football where high hopes and dreams were crushed by the harsh reality of the program, losing to Illinois 48-45 in overtime as well as losing their shot at a bowl.
After beating Wisconsin last week the Hoosiers were riding high. It seemed that after a season full of quarterback battles and firing coordinators that Indiana had finally found its footing and just in time. If IU won all four of its final games, it would be bowl eligible.
Saturday’s game did not start terribly. The Indiana offense looked the best it has looked all year, and the Brendan Sorsby to Donaven McCulley connection was hot. McCulley made repeated impossible catches, drew multiple pass interference calls and had two touchdowns — his first multi-score day.
Indiana racked up 27 points and had a 15-point lead in the second quarter and it seemed that this truly was a new page in the book of Indiana football. While the offense was firing on all cylinders the defense was doing the opposite, allowing 369 yards of offense to Illinois’ backup quarterback, John Paddock, in the first half alone. The last two Illini drives leading up to the half resulted in touchdowns, making it a 27-26 game at the break.
“I was really disappointed in our defense,” head coach Tom Allen said. “Just a poor performance today.”
Indiana had the ball coming out of half, but the drive ended in a fumble and it felt as though the game was already lost. Illinois did not stop slinging the ball and racking up the score. Paddock had 507 passing yards — the second-most in Illinois history. Indiana on the other hand could not find an offensive rhythm throughout the entirety of the third, with two of the three drives ending in turnovers.
“It was a lot of Indiana beating Indiana,” senior linebacker Jacob Magnum-Farrar said. “Breakdowns, busted coverages, or somebody didn’t get the call. It was rarely ‘this guy just beat me’.”
While the defense continued to struggle, the offense did make a stand in the fourth quarter. A touchdown early in the fourth made it a one-score game. To send the game to overtime, Sorsby found DeQuece Carter in the end zone and E.J. Williams for the two-point conversion. Indiana’s hopes of a turning point and bowl eligibility were still alive.
Conservative play calling crushed the Hoosiers in overtime. Three rushing plays left Indiana no choice but to kick the field goal and get some points. But in similar fashion as the rest of the game, Paddock connected with Isaiah Williams for a 21-yard touchdown, sealing the fate of the Hoosiers’ season.
“The defense didn’t play to our standard,” senior defensive back Louis Moore said. “The offense played their butts off. They played a really good game, but on the defensive side we didn’t play up to our standard and I feel like that game is on us.”
The defensive disconnect was unfortunate not only because it cost the game, but it overshadowed the good done by the offense. Sorsby was 22-for-33 and threw for 289 yards on top of having two touchdowns himself.
“We came out early attacking,” Sorsby said. “Obviously that was the plan from the get-go to put up points. There’s a couple of drives I want back, I feel like we could’ve scored more than that. I feel like we did a great job as an offense.”
Indiana still has two games left and while IU will not be making a bowl appearance, the next two games are trophy games and bigger rivalries.
“We got trophy games coming up, so we really gotta go get those and lock in on those games,” McCulley said. “The season don’t stop so you can’t stop working hard, doing everything right, or doing the little things.”
The first of those games will be against Michigan State on Saturday for the Old Brass Spittoon.
