BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana lost to Rutgers on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 31-14. It was IU’s third straight loss the Scarlet Knights.
Below are the three main reasons why the Hoosiers lost.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the game.
Indiana (2-5) will travel to Penn State next weekend.
Special Teams Blunders
Indiana’s special teams were a disaster on Saturday.
It started with a blocked punt by Rutgers that the Scarlet Knights returned for a touchdown. That gave Rutgers a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.
IU punt returner Jaylin Lucas also muffed a punt that Rutgers recovered and turned into a late first half field goal.
There were less significant moments that still mattered in what was a field position battle.
The Hoosiers’ punt coverage team failed to down a 70-yard James Evans punt that rolled all the way to the end zone for a touchback.
Then on Rutgers’ punt on the ensuing possession, IU failed to fair catch a punt that bounced an extra 15 yards.
New Offense Looks Like the Old Offense
Indiana has a new offensive coordinator and starting quarterback, but the results didn’t change much on Saturday.
OC Rod Carey went with Brendan Sorsby as the signal caller, and the Hoosiers did produce two first half touchdowns against an FBS opponent for the first time this year.
But IU punted on five of their first seven drives, and had a turnover on downs on their eighth and ninth.
Indiana was just 2-of-11 on third down and produced just 279 total yards of offense.
Defense Bends and Eventually Breaks
With its offense sputtering, the IU defense was on the field a lot.
Rutgers held a 37:38 to 22:22 time of possession advantage.
The Hoosiers held up reasonably well for most of the game against a talented Rutgers rushing attack, but the dam broke in the fourth quarter when quarterback Gavin Wimsatt kept a read-option and scampered 80 yards for a back-breaking touchdown.
The Scarlet Knights had just 315 yards of offense, but they were able to run 55 times for 276 yards.
Not helpful to their cause, Indiana lost all three of its starting safeties during the game — Louis Moore to a targeting call, and Noah Pierre and Phillip Dunnam to injuries.
This breaking story will be updated.
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