Indiana's lingering uncertainties are proving to be lasting
As Indiana weaved through two non-conference games, it was able to promise fixes for lingering concerns, but after its 51-10 blowout loss to Ohio State, those uncertainties appear to be more foundational than anticipated.
Indiana entered Saturday’s week-three game against Ohio State with a few unanswered questions in significant areas of its football team, mainly surrounding the running game, tackling and whether the ability to create takeaways has dulled in 2019.
But it was assumed the running game would come around with time, as the passing attack blossomed, and that the tackling issues dating back to the season-opener against Ball State were one of two things – easy to fix because players that don’t tackle don’t play, and taken care of after only nine missed tackles against Eastern Illinois. The lack of takeaways during the first two weeks against low-quality teams was a red flag for the defense, but defensive coordinator Kane Wommack addressed it before Ohio State by saying takeaways “come in bunches.”
Those concerns were assumed to be headed toward conclusions after improvements were seen from Ball State to Eastern Illinois, but the variable between those two games was the unknown difference between playing a weak FCS team in week two and actual change within the team.
Ohio State proved that the former was likely more true than the latter, as the siren is now going off on several areas of the team, within the concerns growing all season and some new questions moving forward.
“The first thing I'm going to do when we get done here is watch the film and figure out the tackling piece,” IU head coach Tom Allen said after the game Saturday. “Takeaways, tackling and effort – that's what we instill every day on our defense, so that's the primary focus for me.”
Takeaways, tackling and effort. Indiana has fallen short in the first two of those defensive values, and senior linebacker Reakwon Jones wasn’t happy with the third Saturday either. The Hoosiers were outmatched by the Ohio State offensive line, and the result was two Buckeye running backs with more than 100 yards on the ground. That’s where it begins.
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