Column: This one's on the offense

Nate Sudfeld tried to make too much chicken salad Saturday night.

At least that’s what the sophomore quarterback said his coach will say.

“Sometimes, Coach always says ‘trying to make chicken salad when it’s not there.’ I was trying to do that a little too much,” he said.

Maybe it was Sudfeld pressing and throwing a career-high three interceptions. Maybe it was the complete lack of protection he had that forced him to constantly scramble for his life. Or maybe it was the fact that IU had no offensive balance as it only ran the ball 26 times while  passing it 53 times.

Whatever it was, the IU offense produced no chicken salad and had a complete flop in Saturday’s 45-28 loss to Missouri at Memorial Stadium.

Yes, the defense allowed the Tigers 623 total yards, but it also forced three turnovers, and did exactly enough to keep IU in the game.

Senior safety Greg Heban, who had two interceptions inside the five-yard line, even said he thought the defense did well, although he added there is “room for
improvement.”

“I think we played pretty well,” he said. “But when the offense is struggling a little bit, that’s when the defense needs to step up their game. And I just don’t think the defense did that as well as we needed to.”

But, bottom line, Heban is right. The defense did play well.

The offense just didn’t show up until the second quarter and then never settled into a real rhythm. And that cost IU the game.

When the offense finally did come out of hibernation, it made some more mistakes, like a pick-six by Missouri defensive lineman Kony Ealy shortly before halftime, and the game was lost.

And an opportunity was blown.

“We just didn’t come to play,” junior wide receiver Cody Latimer said.

It’s easy to criticize the defense because that’s been IU’s Achilles heel for at least the past decade.

But Saturday night’s loss is on the offense.

When you break it down, IU’s starting defense really only allowed 31 points. Sudfeld threw a pick-six, and Missouri added another long touchdown in mop-up time.

Add the fact that Missouri converted a fake field goal to pick up a first down — which is an error on the special teams — and scored a touchdown on the next play, you could even argue the defense really only allowed 27 points.

When your offense is averaging 50 a game, it’s fair to expect it to score more than 27.

“It’s hard, especially with an offense like that, knowing what they’re capable of,” Heban said. “We’re sitting there realizing that they could pop a play at any moment.”

But it didn’t.

In fact, Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel wasn’t happy his team even allowed IU a mop-up touchdown of its own. He didn’t think IU deserved it.

“I was kind of disappointed that (Indiana) got that score against us at the end ecause I don’t think the score is reflective of how they played,” he said.

That’s how much IU struggled.

This wasn’t supposed to be the storyline this year. The offense was always supposed
to be there.

There are so many weapons on that side of the ball. No one expected IU to ever have a problem scoring points.

But Saturday it did.

Now IU has put itself in a position of needing to win four of its eight Big Ten games in order to become bowl eligible. That’s a tough task.

There was no chicken salad Saturday night. And if IU wants a chance at making a bowl, it’s going to need the offense to find the chicken salad.
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— robhowar@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Robby Howard on Twitter @robbyhoward1