IU defeats UMass, doubles win total from 2011 season

This weekend’s 45-6 win against Massachusetts (0-2) brings a list of firsts to IU Coach Kevin Wilson’s résumé.

It was Wilson’s first Football Bowl Subdivision victory, first road victory and his team’s first time to score more than 40 points as IU’s coach.

The Hoosiers (2-0) jumped out to a quick lead in the first half behind three touchdowns from sophomore quarterback Tre Roberson in the first quarter.

On the Hoosiers’ second drive of the game, it took one offensive play, a 50-yard run from Roberson, to put IU on the board.

The Minutemen responded quickly with a three-play, 75-yard drive that lasted 47 seconds. It proved to be the team’s only score of the game.

The game would have been tied at that point, but UMass kicker Blake Lucas missed the extra point.

On IU’s next two drives, the team scored two consecutive touchdowns with a 39-yard run from Roberson and a 5-yard screen pass to sophomore wide receiver
Shane Wynn.

By the second quarter, the Hoosiers led 21-6.

On IU’s next drive, nearly two minutes into the second quarter, the Minutemen defenders stopped Roberson on third down just short of the goal line, where the Hoosier starting quarterback broke his leg. Roberson was carted off the field in an ambulance after several minutes, and after the game, the team announced the sophomore would be out for the season.

After an ambulance took Roberson off the field, junior kicker Mitch Ewald nailed a 19-yard field goal to give the Hoosiers a 24-6 lead.

Sophomore quarterback Cameron Coffman entered the game and led the offense after Roberson’s injury.

Coffman and the Hoosiers scored two more touchdowns before halftime.

Two-yard touchdown runs from both junior running back Stephen Houston and sophomore Isaiah Roundtree contributed to the lead.

By halftime, the Hoosiers led 38-6, equaling the highest point total Wilson’s squad reached in any game from 2011.

“I don’t know if we are great, but we have enough good players that when they all come together, the offensive line plays well, and the quarterback manages the game,” Wilson said. “We have enough receivers, tight ends and running backs to cause problems for the defense.”

Yet after a high-scoring first half for the Hoosiers, neither IU nor UMass scored in the third quarter.

“We still need to finish some blocks on the perimeter, we can always be cleaner in the pass game, and we struggled when the ball was wet in the third quarter,” Wilson said. “We had a few three-and-outs and need to manage first and second downs better to avoid third and long situations.”

Both teams were forced to punt on their first two possessions of the third quarter.
The Minutemen’s third drive of that quarter led them to a 36-yard field goal opportunity, which Lucas missed.

The missed field goal gave the Hoosiers possession on their own 20-yard line, and IU marched 80 yards on 14 plays to score a touchdown on a 12-yard pass from Coffman to senior tight end Charles Love III early in the fourth quarter.

“I felt comfortable out there, and I wasn’t too nervous,” Coffman said. “I think it went pretty well, but there is a lot I can improve on.”

Wilson said the main reason his offense was able to score more points than it ever had in a game during his two seasons at IU was strong play on the other side of the ball for the Hoosiers.

“The reason we scored so many points was the defense, because they kept getting the offense the ball,” Wilson said. “The defense is playing better. We are faster and we are a little bit better with conditioning and recruiting, but we are a lot better in knowing what we are doing, playing faster and rallying to the ball.”