Indiana football offensive struggles continue in blowout loss at Maryland

Indiana football’s offensive struggles continued in the team’s 44-17 loss at Maryland Saturday.

After a disappointing 29-27 victory against Akron last week, many fans hoped it would be a wake up call for Indiana head coach Tom Allen and offensive coordinator Walt Bell, but that was not the case as Indiana dropped to 2-3 on the season.

It was nothing new for Indiana football as the same problems continue to haunt the Hoosiers offense.

After Tom Allen and Walt Bell emphasized Indiana’s offensive identity as run-first, the Hoosiers struggled to move the ball on the ground. Josh Henderson missed the game with an injury, but the problems run deeper than his absence.

Indiana rushed for 116 yards on 37 attempts and averaged 3.1 yards per carry. New offensive line coach Bob Bostad’s arrival was supposed to lead to improvement, but that hasn’t been the case. Coming into this game, the Hoosiers averaged 3.2 yards per carry and that number does not look like it will be improving anytime soon.

“We gotta be able to run the football, did not do a good job of that at all,”Allen said postgame. “[We] didn’t stay on blocks. People didn’t finish them and that has to change.”

Allen and his staff will be trying to find an answer over the bye week as the team has not been able to run the ball consistently all year. The struggles in the trenches didn’t just hamper the rushing attack, as Indiana struggled to pass the ball, too.

“[We] didn’t do as good of a job protecting the quarterback,” Allen said about the team’s pass blocking. “That was multiple groups, it wasn’t just up front. It was our running backs and our tight ends as well.”

Indiana quarterback Tayven Jackson faced constant pressure in his first true road game as a starter and he struggled as a result. Jackson finished the game going 17-of-29 for 113 yards and threw an interception before being benched for fellow redshirt-freshman Brendan Sorsby.

“We just needed a spark, looking for something…” Allen said about the quarterback change. “He understands he’s gotta perform to be able to be in that position.”

The quarterback battle that appeared to be over, could be something to monitor with Indiana searching for answers heading into a bye week.

“There’s no question everything’s going to be evaluated without a doubt,” Allen said about the loss. “At the same time, tonight’s game was execution.”

While unlikely, Allen could be hinting at some changes to the depth chart. He didn’t like the play of his quarterbacks and felt mistakes rather than play-calling hampered the Hoosiers offense.

“We need to execute the calls better from what I saw. A lot of receivers open, a lot of opportunities to make proper reads and [we] didn’t do that.”

Indiana’s problems in the red zone continued today. The Hoosiers scored two touchdowns, but both were after the game was already in hand. In the first half, they were stopped twice in the red zone. They kicked once and turned it over on 4th down on their other failed red zone attempt.

While it was not as much of an issue for Allen, the offensive play calling was still questionable for the Hoosiers and their first red zone drive was indicative of that.

Indiana had the ball 1st and 10 at the Maryland 15. Indiana ran the ball up the middle with Christian Turner for five yards.

They followed it up by giving it to Turner up the middle again for three yards. On third and two, Walt Bell called Turner’s number once again and the running back lost a yard, forcing Indiana to settle for a field goal.

Walt Bell has been criticized for his play calling and today was an example of why Hoosier fans are upset about the Indiana football program. Bell took responsibility for the struggles ahead of this weekend.

“It’s ultimately my responsibility that our players do their job well,” Bell said Monday. “…It’s my job to make them execute at a high level. That’s what coach Allen has employed me to do.”

After a third straight week where the offense wasn’t clicking, Tom Allen and his program will need to find something over the bye week as the outlook of the season dims.