Unwritten rules tested in Hoosier loss

As if football wasn’t a complex enough game with the rules in the book, the unwritten rules – generally accepted ways of the game – come into play throughout an entire contest.  

While most are proven correct in the course of a Saturday afternoon, some defy the laws of common sense. In the Hoosiers’ 31-20 loss at Penn State, some major unwritten rules were put to the test.  



Rule No. 1: If you can’t run the ball or stop the run, you’re going to lose the game.

Verdict: True

When the Hoosiers have been able to run the ball effectively (see: Michigan, Illinois), the offense is diverse, threatening and explosive. When they can’t stop the run (see: Virginia, Wisconsin), the game is out of the Hoosiers’ control and they’re forced to play catch up.

At Penn State, the Hoosiers struggled with both. IU managed just 48 yards on the ground on 24 attempts, good for 2 yards per attempt. Senior running back Bryan Payton, who led the team with 30 of those yards, said it wasn’t any exotic scheme, but sound, fundamental football that kept the Hoosiers in the backfield.  

“They’ve got some good players out there, some NFL players,” Payton said. “But I think more than anything, they know what they’re doing, and they do it to near perfection.”  

Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions found multiple ways to move with the ground game. Altogether, they ran for 181 yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry.  

Senior linebacker Matt Mayberry virtually echoed Payton’s sentiments, saying Penn State did nothing out of the ordinary other than simply “getting the yards that they needed.”  

On Saturday, the running game was effective early and IU jumped to a 10-0 lead. Its failure throughout the remainder of the game, though, forced junior quarterback Ben Chappell to sling it 51 times. Mistakes are bound to come in that many attempts, and when they came, they were back-breakers.  

It’s been a problem all year for the Hoosiers, who rank in the bottom of the Big Ten in both rushing yards and rushing yards allowed.



Rule No. 2: The turnover battle wins the game.

Verdict: False

If the turnovers alone won or lost games, the Hoosiers would be playing for the Rose Bowl. At plus-11, IU is second in the Big Ten in turnover margin and first in total takeaways with 29.  

To win any game, especially one against a top-20 team, having more takeaways than turnovers is essential. But it doesn’t end there. When you get the ball, you have to score.  

The Hoosiers had all four of their takeaways come in the first half and converted them into just seven total points. It’s something junior quarterback Ben Chappell knows is unacceptable.  

“It’s been a huge issue, and there’s different reasons for that,” Chappell said. “We’re just not making plays when they’re there.”  

Playing hurt and opportunistic, the defense made the kinds of plays needed to win. If it wasn’t forcing a turnover, it was popping a receiver at the goal line to prevent a touchdown.  

Winning close games has been something the Hoosiers haven’t done this season, but if they could convert on their golden opportunities, they could put the game out of reach early. 

Just like they did against Iowa, where they intercepted five passes but didn’t score off them, the Hoosiers failed to put the unwritten rule in effect.



Rule No. 3: Third-down conversions and field position tell the story

Verdict: True

Converting on third downs offensively and stopping them defensively was on top of IU coach Bill Lynch’s priority list going into the weekend, but it unfolded the same old way at Penn State.

The Hoosiers showed why they are nearly the conference’s worst on third down, converting 8 of 18 times and allowing Penn State to go 8 of 12 in the same situation.  

Where they started didn’t help. In the first half, when they played evenly and ended in a 10-10 tie, IU’s average starting position was their own 33-yard line. In the second half, their average starting point was their own 18-yard line. 

Not surprisingly, Penn State had the opposite effect. The Nittany Lions’ average field position went from their own 24 in the first half to their own 40 in the second.