Another week of defensive struggles spoils offensive gains in 45-24 loss to Iowa

Coming into Saturday’s matchup with Iowa, the Hoosier defense struggled with giving up big plays, allowing five touchdowns of 67 yards or more during the season.

Near the end of the first quarter, Iowa quarterback James Vandenberg added another touchdown to that list, finding wide receiver Marvin McNutt for an 80-yard score.

“That’s just not having some awareness,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “I don’t know if we had some significant busts or just some very, very poor tackling.”

The 80-yard strike was McNutt’s 22nd career touchdown reception, hich set the school record. The play was a play-action pass that IU’s defense has worked on during practice, but in a game, it didn’t turn out perfectly. Three IU defenders collided on the play, leaving McNutt with room to run.

En route to a 45-24 loss to fall to 1-7 (0-4), the 80-yard touchdown wasn’t the only time IU’s defense struggled to contain the Iowa offense that ranked fourth in the Big Ten in scoring. Running back Marcus Coker ran for 139 yards and two touchdowns.

“I don’t think we made a defensive stop until the fourth quarter, so they worked us well, run and pass,” Wilson said.

The Vandenburg-McNutt tandem was lethal for the 5-2 (2-1) Hawkeyes, doing the majority of its damage before halftime. After the second quarter, McNutt had five receptions for 174 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior linebacker Leon Beckum returned to his first game since suffering an injury against Ball State and finished with eight tackles. He said it took a couple of series for him to get back into the flow of the game, and he said at times, he thought he was at fault for defensive mishaps.

“I wish it was just different out there today,” Beckum said. “I felt 100 percent out there. It was just getting into the game flow. Trying to get back into the game speed, I kind of broke down on some coverages.”

Not all was dreary for the Hoosiers on Saturday, as the defense came up with a season-high four sacks. The IU offense also showed signs of life that gave Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz some problems, especially on the ground and with the new “diamond”
formation.

“They unveiled that formation, went to it last week,” Ferentz said. “I guess they’re calling it ‘the diamond.’ That’s kind of going around college football right now . They were playing well, executing well. The quarterback did a good job.”

True freshman Tre Roberson, who became the third quarterback to start for IU this season and the first true freshman to ever start for IU, showed control of the offense from the first drive onward.

The Hoosiers’ first drive, which went 88 yards in 6:16, was the longest drive of the season in terms of both yardage and time.

Roberson finished the drive with a three-yard touchdown to true freshman wide receiver Cody Latimer and finished the game with 16 of 24 passing with 197 yards and a touchdown.

Roberson led the team with 82 yards rushing, and the Hoosiers totaled 217 yards on the ground. It was the second Big Ten game in a row in which IU rushed for more 200 yards, a feat that IU hasn’t accomplished since 2001.

Sophomore running back Stephen Houston compiled 72 rushing yards and two touchdowns, solidifying his role as the starting running back.

After two weeks of improvement on the offensive side of the ball, Wilson said the defense needs to seek balance to be more successful.

“Schematically, we can play soft coverage,” Wilson said. “If we do, it looks like ... we die a slow death. If we want to be aggressive (and) take some shots, we’ve just got to have some mix and
balance.”