I always roll my eyes a bit when sports pundits say a team needs a win. Last I checked, nobody is turning down victories like dessert at an expensive restaurant.
That said, Indiana football really, really needed a win this week and it nearly got one with a 38-35 defeat at Maryland.
After starting 4-0, the Terrapins had lost three straight games by a combined 104 points. Meanwhile, in their last three contests the Hoosiers had scored a total of 22 points in slightly closer but nonetheless demoralizing defeats.
Someone had to win. The only question was who. Whether or not it would be ugly was never in doubt.
Before kickoff, sparse clumps of fans speckled the bleachers at Capital One Field like the early stages of an unfinished Jackson Pollock painting. I’m fairly certain Indiana and Maryland could have quietly agreed to count the game as a win for both squads without actually playing and nobody would have noticed.
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Instead, they traded special teams gaffes, penalties and chunk plays until the Terrapins notched a 20-17 lead and never let the score get any closer.
In a rare twist, Indiana’s defense let down its offense. Trust me, that felt as weird to write as it did to read.
Before today, it seemed like Indiana’s offense wasn’t even a net zero. It actively sabotaged the rest of the team, whether that be by turning the ball over, getting off the field before the defense caught its breath or sending freshman punter James Evans out to boot the ball away from within his own end zone.
Against the Terrapins, the Hoosiers generated 446 offensive yards and scored more touchdowns than they had against Big Ten opponents all year.
In his first career start, freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley played a perfectly competent game and by all means outperformed every expectation anyone could rightfully have for a third-string quarterback. He went 14-25 for 242 yards with two touchdowns and didn’t even throw the requisite Indiana quarterback pick-six.
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Meanwhile, Indiana’s defense didn’t have any answers for Maryland junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, who threw for 419 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Hoosiers’ defensive backs blew coverages like bubble gum all afternoon. If I were a particularly uncreative writer, I would make a joke about the scariest thing this Halloween weekend being Indiana’s pass coverage.
I think Indiana fans tend to get caught up in the mystique of head coach Tom Allen and the magic of last season without pausing to consider the facts. Unless you’re talking about the University of Alabama playing Vanderbilt University, there is no reason a team with a fourth-string quarterback should beat a conference opponent.
The fact that Indiana had a legitimate shot at victory on the road until an onside kick with a minute left in the game is a reason for optimism, even if it doesn’t manifest this year.
While today showed Indiana could be a very good team in the future, it simultaneously proved that it is not a very good one right now. After weeks of struggling to move the ball offensively, today should have been when the Hoosiers put it all together.
Good teams win in spite of their weaknesses. Indiana lost because of what was supposed to be its strength. You could say the scariest thing this Halloween weekend was Indiana’s pass coverage.
Given McCulley’s impressive command of a previously lifeless offense and the ability to shut down opposing offenses we have previously seen from Indiana’s defense, I fully believe the Hoosiers can end the season on a high note.
But first they need to stop playing this funeral dirge in bass clef.
