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As the Hoosiers traveled to Piscataway in search of a skid-stopping victory, Indiana met Rutgers for the eight contest of the year. The final contest before their much-needed bye week, Indiana was as close to fully healthy as they’ve been all season.
Allen mentioned earlier in the week that the Hoosiers had to flip the script to make a change in the results of their performances. The first opportunity to do so came Saturday versus the Scarlet Knights.
With slow starts being an issue that has plagued Tom Allen’s team each time out, Indiana finally got out to a great start versus the Scarlet Knights.
Hot shot freshman Jaylin Lucas returned the opening kickoff 92 yards to the house. As a follow up, the Indiana defense quickly got off the field and handed the keys over to Walt Bell’s offense. The ensuing drive would be one of the best Indiana has put together all season, an 11-play, 91-yard scoring drive that included effective play calling and was capped off by a Connor Bazelak rushing touchdown.
After five minutes of play, carrying a 14-0 lead, Indiana looked poised to boat race the seemingly lesser Rutgers team. However, as the quarter flipped to the second, the Hoosier team that had been a tale of two halves became a tale of two quarters.
The second fifteen minutes was a far cry from the first fifteen. Rutgers drove 86 yards on 11 plays to halve the Indiana lead, but that would be about all of the action that the first half saw. Indiana and Rutgers proceeded to trade off short, empty drives as the visiting Hoosiers took a 14-7 lead into the locker room.
However, the offensive woes would continue into the second half of play. After a grueling drive to open the second half that saw Rutgers run 15 plays for 46 yards and a field goal to cut the lead to four, Indiana possessed the ball for just 53 seconds. A quick three and out would give Rutgers the ball once again.
The Scarlet Knights then went on another near 7-minute drive, traveling 56 yards in 12 plays to put a touchdown on the board and capture their first lead of the game. Heading to the final quarter of action, Indiana trailed Rutgers, 17-14.
The offense would continue to do little to nothing with the football, yet they weren’t alone for a bit. The two squads once again began trading scoreless drives, but as time continued to tick down on the Hoosiers chances of a result and saving their season, Indiana would only see the game slip further out of their hands.
After being pinned deep by Rutgers, Bazelak evaded right and tried to get rid of the football to avoid a safety. The desperation attempt was picked off by Rutgers and walked in for a pick-6, putting Indiana in a 10-point hole, trailing 24-14.
With just over 3 minutes left, Indiana finally found success in moving the football, but only mustered 3 points out of the 70 yard drive. However, Indiana would not recover the necessary onside kick, and Rutgers would run out the final minute-plus of the ballgame to close out the 24-17 defeat.
Indiana played five minutes of their best football of the season to start the game. From there on, Rutgers controlled the final 55 minutes of the ballgame. Simply stated, that's not a winning formula.
The loss was Indiana’s fifth straight, and the Scarlet Knight victory snapped a 21-game home Big Ten losing streak, their first such win since Nov. 4, 2017.
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Final Stats:
Total Yards: IU 272, RUT 305
Rushing Yards: IU 62, RUT 192
Passing Yards: IU 210, RUT 113
Connor Bazelak, IU: 23-41, 210 yards, 1 tot TD, 1 INT
Noah Vedral, RUT: 12-24, 113 yards, 1 TD
Samuel Brown V, RUT: 28 rushes, 101 yards, 1 TD
Jaylin Lucas, IU: 194 all-purpose yards, 1 KR TD
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