Nearly two minutes into the fourth quarter, Rutgers had control of the ball at its own 20-yard line. Junior quarterback Gavin Wimsatt was hurriedly clapping his hands together, waiting for the snap with the play clock running down.
After receiving the snap in the nick of time, Wimsatt looked to redshirt freshman defensive lineman Venson Sneed Jr., reading his designated read before choosing to pull the ball from junior running back Kyle Monangai and instead keep it himself. Wimsatt juked IU junior defensive back Jordan Grier, taking off for an 80-yard touchdown run to put the nail in Indiana’s coffin.
“We got caught in the middle of changing our play,” Indiana sixth-year senior linebacker Aaron Casey said postgame. “Not everybody was on the same page.”
Wimsatt’s lengthy scamper capped off a 31-14 Rutgers victory Saturday, one in which he ran for 143 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. Wimsatt wasn’t alone in the Scarlet Knights’ rushing attack as Monangai added 109 yards on 24 carries.
“It was obviously not what we wanted,” Casey said. “We prepared for it, we knew it was coming. We got to do a better job at stopping it.”
Rutgers entered Saturday’s contest averaging 178.8 rushing yards per game — sixth best in the conference. Combine that with Indiana allowing 174.4 rushing yards per game — worst in the Big Ten — and the result is the Scarlet Knights rushing for a season-high 276 yards.
“I was concerned about (Rutgers’ running ability),” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said postgame. “That’s what they’ve been able to do. But (we) just didn’t do a good enough job on first downs, got too many third and shorts, got a big quarterback gain that we knew they would do.”
While Indiana largely struggled to contain Rutgers’ rushing attack throughout the game, it also made crucial mistakes such as a horse collar tackle by Casey on what would’ve been a third-down stop midway through the second quarter.
Not only was Indiana plagued by defensive struggles Saturday, but it was also troubled by a special teams unit that had a lackluster afternoon. The Hoosiers allowed a blocked punt returned for a touchdown alongside sophomore return specialist Jaylin Lucas muffing a punt at the end of the first half.
“Special teams just hurt us, sadly, and an inexcusable blocked punt,” Allen said.
While the Hoosiers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, the blocked punt allowed the Scarlet Knights to even up the contest.
“It wasn’t confusing, we were just checking based on what they were showing, and we have a whole check system, so we were just going through our checks,” Allen explained. “When they line up a certain way, we leave ourselves enough time on the play clock to do that. But they out-executed us in that regard, in regards to being able to get the call they wanted and us executing what we had called.”
Although the Hoosiers' defensive backfield grew thin with sixth-year senior husky Noah Pierre carted off with an injury and sophomore safety Phillip Dunnam also injured, redshirt junior cornerback Nic Toomer felt Indiana stayed ready.
“I think everyone was prepared,” Toomer said postgame. “We work on that during the week, everyone has to be ready to go because injuries do happen. That’s just what happens. Obviously, no one likes to see that happen, but when they do everybody has to know their calls.”
After being drubbed by the Scarlet Knights, the Hoosiers are now on a three-game losing streak in which they have been outscored 127-38.
“We’ve obviously got another opportunity next week, which is what we’re facing, on the road again, but at the same time, it’s about us right now being able to band together and continue to battle,” Allen said about the upcoming matchup with No. 7 Penn State on Oct. 28. “That’s what we’re going to do. We’re just going to lock arms and fight.”
With Indiana’s sights now set on recovering from the blowout loss with a matchup against Penn State on the horizon, Allen explained who’s at fault for the Hoosiers’ blunders inside Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
“It falls on me,” Allen said. “I’m the one in charge. I’m the one responsible. This is on me.”
While the Hoosiers must win four of their remaining five games to become bowl-eligible, Toomer isn’t worried about their past losses.
‘Well, the past is the past,” Toomer said. “We have a big challenge ahead of us, all we can do is focus on the future. We still can make a bowl game. That’s our goal right now, so just putting that behind us and going back to work.”
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
