BLOOMINGTON – Boiled over with frustration as the afternoon continued, Cam Camper had reached his limit.
Following a failed 4th-and-long conversion with just over ten minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Camper jogged back to the Indiana bench – surrounded by many of the teammates that had voted him to be a captain, the only offensive skill player to be appointed into the role. In the ensuing moments, Camper slammed his helmet into the turf, going into a verbal tirade as his teammates watched.
When asked about the moment after the game, Camper mentioned he'd rather not say what led to the outburst.
But for everything Camper's moment said, both audibly and not, told the stories of those in the stands who opted to stick out the end of Saturday's 23-3 defeat to Ohio State. Heavy hands held heads that sported long faces. Children who had moved down to the front row rested their heads on the limestone that surrounds Memorial Stadium's playing surface.
As the Hoosiers' 29th consecutive loss to Ohio State eventually came, a sense of hope and intrigue was met with dejection for an Indiana offense that, after scoring a measly three points on the season's opening Saturday, left a lot to be desired in their first showing of the year.
"Just not good enough," Indiana head coach Tom Allen said, referencing his offense on Saturday. "Not scoring touchdowns, obviously that's unacceptable."
The story heading into the matchup between the Hoosiers and Buckeyes surrounded who would quarterback the Indiana offense, one that both Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby took turns at the helm of. Allen said that was by design – when he had mentioned Indiana making a decision regarding their quarterback, he says they meant that both guys would play.
Sorsby started Saturday, and Jackson will start this upcoming Friday's game versus Indiana State. With no real rep limit in mind, Allen just hoped for execution from his two redshirt freshmen. Besides, Indiana's offense doesn't holistically change, Allen says, depending on what quarterback is playing.
What he is sure of, however, is that he feels Indiana's approach wasn't aggressive enough.
"I would say it was probably a little more conservative than we, even in that game, would like for it to be, but there's certain reasons for that," Allen said. "But we have to be able to (take shots), and that's going to grow for sure. We really felt like, coming in, we were going to have to take about seven or eight shots.
"There's no question. We've got talented receivers on the perimeter, and we've got to do a better job of getting those guys the football."
Camper, one of those weapons that Allen was referring to, paused when asked about whether the Hoosier offense was, in his eyes, conservative on Saturday.
"Um, I guess you could say yeah," Camper said after a pause.
He then paused again, then shook his head.
"But I don't know, he (Allen) knows more than me."
Camper was Indiana's leading target-getter and receiver on Saturday, hauling in three of the six passes thrown his way for 35 yards.
Of course, being thrown into a challenge like the one Ohio State's defense presents could call for a more conservative approach in certain situations than others. Getting into manageable situations where the offense can aid their young quarterback – no matter which one it is – in easing the pressure is generally of priority.
But Indiana's defense put in an impressive shift – one that if it had been paired with a more cohesive, intimidating attack than the one the Hoosiers employed on Saturday, could've made the No. 3 Buckeyes sweat more.
But certain play-calling decisions resulted in undesired outcomes – a triple option hand-off up the middle on 3rd-and-10 in the first quarter; a flat, broken-up pass on a fourth down attempt.
Indiana's two quarterbacks only attempted 21 passes on the afternoon, the majority of which coming in the fourth quarter from Sorsby when the Hoosiers began to chase their gradually increasing deficit. The Hoosiers had 11 offensive drives on Saturday, and none of them reached the red zone. They averaged 2.2 yards per rush and completed just 43% of their passing attempts for just north of nine yards per completion.
In truth, most teams will struggle to move the ball consistently against Ohio State's defense, but Indiana's defense kept the door cracked long enough all day in, waiting for the Indiana offense to come bursting in.
But on Saturday, the Hoosier offense never did.
"We just have to continue to get better," Allen said.
With the Indiana offense, there's certainly room to grow.
–––––
Like this content? Join the conversation on TheHoosier.com's premium message boards and subscribe today!
– Follow TheHoosier on Twitter and Facebook!
– Subscribe to TheHoosier on YouTube for more content
– TheHoosier's Premium Football Board and Premium Hoops Board
