It was all too familiar, reminiscent ofthe Indiana football. The offense moved the ball down the field, scored points but the defense couldn’t get off the field and stupid penalties were the story. On a fall homecoming afternoon, Northwestern hands Indiana (1-8, 0-5) their sixth straight loss, 59-38.
Indiana and Northwestern combined for 97 points and 1,104 yards of total offense (616-488). How bad was it? Northwestern didn’t punt until the 11:35 mark of the fourth quarter.
Notes:
+ Wilson’s hope for the future was obvious. 12 freshman started the game, including eight true freshman. IU started seven on the defensive side of the ball, which is the most by any FBS school this season.
+ There’s no argument and no excuse, Indiana’s defense did not show up. Northwestern, a team that was averaging about 28 points a game, put 59 on IU. Offensively, Indiana looked like the Hoosiers of old where offense wasn’t the problem.
+ Penalties were a hot button issue as they continued to hurt the Hoosiers. At one point, IU had penalties yards than they had picked up rushing (85-83). They finished the game with 7 penalties for 79 yards.
+ Missed tackles, missed tackles and more missed tackles. Too many times the offensive player would beat the first and second line of defense. Not only were there missed tackles but defenders were making bad lines. Leon Beckum led IU with 13 tackles.
+ Stephen Houston ran the ball well once again. He finished with 151 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. Coach Wilson on Houston’s effort: “Ran through some trash…he definitely took some 1, 2, and 3 yard plays and got 6, 7 and 8 yards…both he and Tre over a hundred was nice.”
+ Duwyce Wilson caught a touchdown pass but injured his left knee while coming down. He tore his ACL and will require surgery.
+ Damarlo Belcher missed the game for a violation of team rules.
Indiana travels to Ohio State next week and then has their bye week…then the Hoosiers travel to Michigan State and host Purdue to close the season. Coach Wilson and staff are still without a Big Ten win.