Under Review: IU defeats ISU

Aug 29, 2013; Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers running back Tevin Coleman (6) runs the ball against the Indiana State Sycamores at Memorial Stadium. Indiana won 73-35. Mandatory Credit: Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports

Last Thursday, Indiana set a record in its dismantling of Indiana State. The Hoosiers scored 73 points, the most ever by the home team at Memorial Stadium.

IU could have gone for 80, but coach Kevin Wilson opted to run out the clock for the final three minutes, and show mercy on his opponent. Well, as much mercy as can be shown when you win a game 73-35.

This is exactly what IU should do to an inferior opponent like the Sycamores. Indiana is in the Big Ten, and the Hoosiers need to start playing like it.

For at least the first week of the season, Indiana will lead the NCAA in scoring. The Hoosier faithful usually don’t have much to cheer for during football season, but they’ll take this while they can.

Here are our takeaways from the game.

The Good

• QB Rotation. Wilson played all three quarterbacks (four actually saw time) and it for the most part it worked. Tre Roberson opened up the game and led IU on three touchdown drives in the first quarter. Nate Sudfeld took over next and showed off his pinpoint accuracy by completing 70-percent of his passes. Sudfeld threw four touchdowns, but also had a bad pick-six. Between Sudfeld and Roberson, there were six touchdowns, 290 yards passing, a 65-percent completion rate, and just the lone interception.
• The Receiving Corps. Eight different players caught passes, and four of them had at least one receiving touchdown. Tight end Ted Bolser had a standout game, hauling in six passes for 78 yards and a pair of TDs to lead all receivers. I have long said that Bolser has NFL talent and should be a featured player in the offense due to the matchup problems he creates. IU has no shortage of good receivers, if the QB can’t find someone open, they’re not looking hard enough.
• Tevin Coleman. This sophomore running back is a stud. He averged 12 yards per carry. 12. That is insane. Yes, he broke a few big runs, but even if you remove his two big runs, he still averaged 6.6 yards a touch. By the end of the night, Coleman had 169 yards rushing and two touchdowns. IU has some good depth at running back behind Coleman as well.
• Tim Bennett. He made a number of big plays from the cornerback position. He had three pass breakups, but it seemed like more. He had just two tackles, but both were big stops. If he can improve his timing just slightly, he’ll be coming away with interceptions.

The Bad

• Three Unanswered TDs.At the end of the first half, and into the beginning of the second, ISU scored three touchdowns in rapid succession to almost make it a football game again. First, the defense, with a 45-7 lead, got lazy and gave up a touchdown pass to cap a seven-play 78-yard drive. IU had ISU in 3rd and long twice, but failed to get the stop each time. On the ensuing kickoff, Laray Smith fumbled the kickoff by trying to make something out of nothing (just go down!!!). That ended the half, but IU’s failure wasn’t over. The opening drive featured an interception returned for a touchdown. Sudfeld made a lazy, ill-advised pass and paid for it. Sudfeld would immediately rebound with a touchdown drive.
  • Why? Wilson started to treat this like an NFL preseason game. He made liberal substitutions and the play calling became questionable. This sort of stretch against a better team would result in a loss.
• Turnover Battle. IU lost the turnover battle 3-2. The Hoosiers had two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown) and a fumble on a punt that was recovered in the end zone by ISU. IU has to be more careful with the ball. The defense isn’t going to produce a lot of takeaways this season, or stop that many teams, and the offense (or special teams) can’t spot opponent points.
• Cam Coffman. While he only had limited snaps, there was a reason for that. He completed just 2-of-7 passes for 29 yards and threw an interception. Last season, he ended up on “the bad” list more often than not. While he has experience, he just isn’t all that great of a QB. Maybe he can develop into one, but I don’t think he should be the starter. Wilson should pick between Roberson and Sudfeld, and consider redshirting Coffman.

Bad Moment

• Carlos Aviles tried to murder Shane Wynn. Go here to view the play. Essentially, Aviles hit Wynn well before the ball could ever be caught following the punt. That’s a penalty in and of itself, but he also led with his helmet and put it into Wynn’s head. Wynn was clearly concussed and Aviles was tossed from the game as a result of the new targeting rule. What Aviles did was inexcusible and he should be suspended for more than the first half of next week’s game against Purdue. The rule should be used carefully, but what happened Thursday night was a perfect example of when to use it.

IU improves to 1-0 on the season and will host Navy next Saturday.

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