After two possessions, it looked as if Indiana might snap its six-game losing streak on Senior Day against Minnesota.
The defense stopped the Golden Gophers in the red zone, a team that has a roughly 90% scoring efficiency. On the other end of the field, IU quarterback Donaven McCulley scored a rushing touchdown to give the Hoosiers their first lead since October 30th against Maryland.
Coming into the game, Minnesota had the 10th-best rushing defense in the NCAA, holding opponents to 99.9 yards per game on average.
McCulley had more than 50 rushing yards during the first drive, and the offense combined for 85 rushing yards. However, the offense gained only 56 more rushing yards for the rest of the game.
Head coach Tom Allen discussed the successful first drive and the subsequent faltering in a press conference after the game.
"Did a good job executing that first drive," Allen said. "92 yards is hard to do against a good defense, which they are. [We] weren't able to sustain it, which is disappointing."
Despite the early running success, McCulley didn't have much success in the air, throwing for only 17 yards and two interceptions.
"To me, that is definitely his strength, is to be able to run the football, but you got to be able to throw it as well," Allen said. "To me, you can't shy away from that. You gotta be able to do it, and obviously do it in an efficient way and not put him in harm's way. But you can't make it to where you cautiously play the game and call the game."
McCulley's first interception came toward the end of the first half, when he threw into triple coverage while his receiver was already out of bounds. Despite making a wise decision earlier in the game to throw the ball away, McCulley threw toward multiple defenders instead of running out of bounds.
The error proved costly, as Minnesota earned excellent field position and scored a touchdown to extend its lead to 21-7, heading into halftime.
One question is why the Hoosiers risked a turnover with 30 seconds left in the first half instead of kneeling out the clock. After all, IU would get the ball to start the second half. According to Allen, he wanted to be aggressive and throw the ball.
"We're not going to beat these guys scoring seven points," Allen said. "I felt like we hadn't really thrown the football effectively yet; felt like we could. I've seen him (McCulley) do it during practice. On that throw, we should have ran it."
By halftime, IU had only six first downs, all occurring in the game's first scoring drive. The offense combined for only six first downs the rest of the game.
Minnesota's offense outgained IU 391 to 218 in total yards, also earning eight more first downs.
Minnesota running back Ky Thomas was a significant threat, rushing for 105 yards and two touchdowns. It's the fourth time this season where the redshirt freshman has run for more than 100 yards in a game.
Quarterback Tanner Morgan was also effective, passing for 196 yards and two touchdowns while completing 14 of 20 passes.
After McCulley's interception, IU elected to play quarterback Grant Gremel. The redshirt sophomore didn't find much success at first but crafted a scoring drive late in the fourth quarter that capped off with a 29-yard touchdown pass.
It was too late for the Hoosiers to stage a comeback, but the touchdown rinsed a little bit of salt out of the wound.
Allen is open to starting Gremel next week in the season's final game against Purdue, he said.
"Absolutely, whatever we got to do to beat Purdue," Allen said. "That's it, that's the bottom line."
The 35-14 loss extends the Hoosiers losing streak to seven games and winless in eight conference matchups. Although there's been a string of losses, Allen is focused on beating Purdue.
"We got one game, very important game, very big game, the game of the season," Allen said. "Biggest game of the season because it's the next one, but we know it's Purdue, which makes it extra special."
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