Indiana "took care of business" against Eastern Illinois during a historic 52-0 victory, but Ohio State is shifting its focus to Bloomington this week after the Hoosiers addressed week-one questions as clearly as they could against an FCS team.
Saturday’s matchup against Eastern Illinois was only going to provide a finite amount of comfort for IU fans and limited opportunity to iron out the wrinkles for the Hoosiers. EIU is an FCS team coming off of a 3-8 season with a fresh face at head coach. There would come a point where IU’s staff would begin rotating in second- and third-string players, and that point was late in the second quarter.
Everything after the 28-0 lead would be taken with a grain of salt because nothing seen on the field was Indiana at its quickest speeds or strongest strengths, and everything before that lead was lined up against one of its easiest opponents in the last decade.
The only way the EIU game would contribute to the macro-narrative of the 2019 Indiana football season was if the Hoosiers tripped and lost or left it close. That wasn’t the case Saturday, as Indiana won, 52-0, and is now squared up to tackle Ohio State in a week.
“Took care of business like we were supposed to, and that's what’s good,” IU head coach Tom Allen said after the game Saturday.
Taking care of business came in the form of the largest margin of victory in Memorial Stadium history and the biggest shutout in program history since a 54-0 win against Nebraska in 1944.
Those scoring statistics surely standout and will set the benchmark for how IU handles future nonconference opponents, but handling nonconference opponents was not the concern going into the 2019 season like it was earlier in the 2010 decade.
The game everyone has marked on their calendars is coming to Bloomington next week, in Ohio State. That created a shadow over the Week Two historical victory.
“This was something like a test to see what our offense was made of, but the real test is next week,” IU wide receiver Donavan Hale said after the EIU game.
“I think we all know what is coming,” Allen said early in his postgame press conference. “We adapt to what we get and who we're supposed to play next, so the Buckeyes are coming to town.”
Throughout the week after the Ball State opener and leading into EIU, the Week Two matchup seemed to be a measuring stick for how far the Hoosiers could swing the pendulum back toward confidence in areas like the running game, tackling, consistency from wide receivers and the pass rush.
There were clear improvements. Stevie Scott averaged 5.1 yards per carry, and his backups combined for 17 carries – though Allen displayed some dissatisfaction after the run-to-pass ratio remained the same as it was against Ball State. After surrendering 181 yards after contact in Week One, IU allowed only 116 total yards Saturday. Whop Philyor, Donavan Hale Peyont Hendershot and Ty Fryfogle combined to bring in 16 of their 20 targets, and the defense sacked the quarterback twice with eight tackles for loss.
But there are still some questions about each of those areas leading into a game against a top-five opponent – one that’s coming off a decisive 42-0 win against a good Cincinnati team and appears early on to be the favorite to take the conference crown.
Even the aspects of the Indiana team that feel the most solid – Mike Penix at quarterback, wide receivers, Peyton Hendershot and the secondary – are going to be tested.
Exiting the Eastern Illinois week, there was already an understanding from the players, like Penix and Philyor and Hale, that Ohio State was coming and that this next week – even though the biggest improvement supposedly comes between weeks one and two – was going to be the biggest week of the young season.
“We’re going to see how good we are next week against Ohio State,” Philyor said after the game Saturday. “But they still have to play us, remember that. It’s going to be like a normal week. We just have to focus on the small things, the little things. That’s what will help us beat teams in the Big Ten. We come to beat teams like that. We aren’t just trying to play, we’re trying to beat them.”
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