There seems to be no clear formula for Indiana’s success this season — and that might explain better than anything else why the Hoosiers are so dominate.
Maybe if you can get off to a fast start you can get in their heads a little bit?
Maryland tried that. They appeared to be the dominant team very early at SECU Stadium Saturday afternoon. The Terps intercepted IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s second pass, and stuffed the Hoosier offense on their first two drives.
Perhaps Mike Locksley’s squad found an unknown weakness in the IU offense that could be exploited for the remainder of the game?
Uh, maybe not. The Hoosiers scored points on their next eight drives, on their way to 588 total yards of offense. Mendoza didn’t have a big day, but IU gained a staggering 367 yards on the ground. Other days it has been Mendoza with the dominant performance.
“You want to take away the pass, alright, we’ll run 370 yards down your throat,” Mendoza said.
Maybe avoiding sacks and tackles for loss is the ticket? Those are two calling cards of Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ defense.
Well, Maryland did that. The Hoosiers only had three tackles for loss and no sacks.
But the Terps were just 3 of 12 on third down, possessed the ball for just 19 minutes, and turned it over five times.
Whatever obstacle they encounter, these Hoosiers seem to have the counter ready to go. Checkers, meet three-dimensional chess.
Why is Indiana able to seemingly overcome everything thrown their way?
“It’s a veteran group,” IU coach Curt Cignetti said. “On offense you’ve got a lot of guys who’ve played a lot of football. And really the same on defense. So chance are all these guys have been in this situation before. They know how to respond.”
Okay, so Maryland had no chance to beat IU straight up. Ah, but injuries, that’s what will derail these Hoosiers right?
Not so fast.
Indiana played without arguably their most important player on defense, All-American linebacker Aiden Fisher. They lost their top receiver Elijah Sarratt in the first quarter. Starting left guard Drew Evans, whose performance to this point probably merits some level of All-Big Ten consideration, didn’t play either.
Right tackle Khalil Benson was injured during the game but fought through it. Same with wideout E.J. Williams. Backup linebacker Kaiden Turner left the game with an injury too.
Despite the attrition, Indiana manhandled Maryland 55-10. They’ve outscored their last three opponents 149-29. No matter who is in the game, these Hoosiers seem unstoppable.
Turner was in the game indirectly because Fisher was out. Turner got a momentum changing interception and then he got hurt. Jeff Utzinger came in for Turner and stuffed a running play immediately.
Charlie Becker reeled off a 52-yard reception soon after Sarratt left the game.
And on it went.
But even as these Hoosiers seem more and more unflappable, the injuries are becoming a bit concerning, at least as it relates to their volume if not severity.
Eventually if down to only walk-ons, we might at least see some closer games. Right? Fortunately we won’t have to find out.
Indiana has lost Kellan Wyatt, Lee Beebe, Jr. and Bryson Bonds for the season, but none of the injuries suffered over the last two weeks fall in that category.
“We came out good,” Cignetti said following the game when asked if any of their recent spate of injuries were of the more serious nature.
“Sarratt’s hamstring tightened up on him a little bit, and we’ve got some guys with some bumps and bruises. As the week went on it didn’t look real good for Fisher playing so there’s no surprise there. And Drew Evans will be out for a few weeks.”
This feels like the part of the story where I am supposed to tell you that because IU plays at Penn State next Saturday there is still cause for concern.
Maybe if Sarratt and Fisher don’t have a full week of practice and aren’t 100 percent, that will negatively impact IU against the Nittany Lions’ athletes?
Maybe with Evans out and Benson not 100 percent the IU offensive line will struggle against Penn State’s size in the trenches?
No, this feels like the part of the story where we all start to recognize that Indiana is so well prepared, so fundamentally sound, and so mentally focused — that it’s going to take a hell of a lot more than that to knock this team out.
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