IU football must clean up penalties, miscues if bowl eligibility is to be realistic goal
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana’s domination of Indiana State on Friday didn’t come without a few hiccups. IU earned the 41-7 win, but was far from playing mistake-free football.
On the Hoosiers’ third drive of the night, IU quarterback Tayven Jackson launched a beautiful ball down the right sideline to Cam Camper, who beat his defender with a double move. Camper brought the pass in and was taken down at Indiana State’s 1-yard line. It would have been the longest play of Indiana’s season thus far, except it was taken away due to IU center Zach Carpenter being called as an ineligible man downfield.
IU still scored on that drive, but that type of crucial mistake has been too common in the team’s first two games of the season. Indiana committed seven penalties for 60 yards against Indiana State — a week after having eight penalties for 75 yards against Ohio State.
“We had four crucial penalties,” Indiana coach Tom Allen said Monday after watching film from the Ohio State game. “We started four drives inside the 20, three inside the 10, which is tough. It affects play calling. It affects psyche.”
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While the Hoosiers recovered from their 20-point loss to Ohio State in Week 1, there’s no reason for Allen and his staff to have optimism on the penalty front. Indiana could have played a much cleaner game Friday against its in-state foe.
Special teams penalties played a factor for IU for the second week in a row. At the end of the first quarter, a Hoosier grazed Indiana State punter Harry Traum and was called for running into the kicker. The Sycamores declined the penalty because they already pinned IU at its 20-yard line because of a muffed punt.
The Hoosiers rammed into Traum again in the third quarter several seconds after he booted the ball away. Indiana State again declined the penalty after getting optimal field position from the punt. IU was fortunate to get those 5-yard running into the kicker penalties instead of the full 15-yards and automatic first down that comes with roughing the kicker.
Indiana also committed a kick catch interference in the third quarter when Jordan Grier leveled punt returner Dakota Caton a split second before he hauled in a punt. Needless to say, these were avoidable mistakes by Indiana’s special teams unit.
“Running into a punter should never happen,” Allen said after the game. “We’ll get them cleaned up. (I) gave an earful to (special teams coordinator Kasey Teegardin), love him to death, but he knows.”
The careless penalties don’t include the blunder that led to Indiana State’s only points of the night. Late in the second quarter, Indiana running back Jaylin Lucas dropped the football in a sea of defenders. Bloomington South graduate Maddix Blackwell scooped the loose ball for Indiana State and took it 75 yards for the team’s only score of the game.
Besides that miscue, Lucas rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns and had 39 receiving yards on four catches. It was a solid game for IU’s talented sophomore running back outside of the crucial fumble.
At no point did it feel like Indiana State had a real chance to win. But for Indiana to reach six wins and bowl eligibility, these are the type of plays and penalties that must be tossed out of the equation.
Indiana takes on Louisville (2-0) at Lucas Oil Stadium next Saturday in a game this IU team is capable of winning. To get the job done against Louisville, IU must rid its unforced errors.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU football vs. Indiana State: Hoosiers need to clean up penalties
