Indiana tackling, run game underwhelm in opener
The Hoosiers filled the stat sheet in their season opener against Ball State en route to a 34-24 victory. Redshirt freshman Michael Penix Jr. threw for 326 yards in his first start, sophomore Stevie Scott rushed for two touchdowns in the red zone and fifth-year senior Reakwon Jones made a career-high 11 tackles.
What didn’t show up on the stat sheet, however, was poor tackling and an inconsistent run game against a lesser opponent from the MAC.
Indiana’s defense, in its first game under defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, allowed 398 yards of total offense to Ball State and only mustered one takeaway on a late-game, fourth-quarter throw by the Cardinals’ redshirt junior quarterback Drew Plitt.
In the third quarter, Plitt converted a short pass over the middle to running back Walter Fletcher. Instead of a routine tackle for a short gain, sophomore linebacker Micah McFadden failed to bring Fletcher down, allowing him to spring to the outside for a 45-yard touchdown down the left sideline.
“I think we can fix it,” Jones said after the game. “Knock the rust off the guys. It’s just something we’re going to have to emphasize coming into this week. You can never get enough tackling practice in. I think that’s something we’re going to continue to work on this week. Guys know that’s not the standard. We’ve got to be better.”
In practice, Indiana doesn’t get much time to hone in on live tackling scenarios that compare to games. They use large, donut-shaped pads to practice wrapping up against an opponent and driving it through the ground to simulate tackling.
Even in practice, where the Hoosiers work as individuals and as a team, it’s a different atmosphere being in a game setting. Those types of mental lapses need to get ironed out after week one.
“All you have to do is watch games, it’s a common theme,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said in the post-game press conference. “It’s become a bigger issue. Shoulder tackles, to me, that’s an easy fix. If they don’t want to wrap up, then they're not going to play.”
On the offense -- also in its first year under a new coordinator, Kalen DeBoer -- Indiana could not establish a running game to complement its passing attack.
“It was disappointing,” Allen said. “They were loading the box. They loaded the box a lot. That’s why we threw the ball as much as we did. We’re going to look at that and figure it out. I think our running game will be fine.”
After the first half, Penix Jr. was the team’s leading rusher with 30 yards on four carries. The running backs combined had nine carries and 30 yards through two quarters of play.
It wasn’t until the second half that DeBoer started to feed Scott the ball. The second-year running back for the Hoosiers garnered 52 yards on 19 carries by the end of the game and ended the team’s red zone woes with two short touchdowns.
Throughout the afternoon, Ball State secured numerous tackles and didn’t allow the likes of Scott to break into the secondary. Indiana ended the game with 148 rushing yards as a team.
“Just making that first defender miss really,” Scott said after the game. “Just getting to that second level, third level. “That’s something all the running backs have to work on. Receiving out of the backfield, also.”
Listed at 231 pounds, Indiana’s starting running back said during fall camp that coaches have challenged him to finish long runs, but he didn’t have the chance in today’s game, with his longest run of the afternoon being just seven yards.
“It’s the first game and we go back to practice on monday, so well watch film and fix what we could do better on and try to improve,” Scott said. “We’re not really stressing about the first game because there’s a long season ahead of us.”
The team has established a 1-0 mindset and, once done evaluating film from the first game of the season, will set their sights on Eastern Illinois next week on Sept. 7.
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