There were two Richard Lagows that played Saturday – the senior quarterback that injected hope into IU fans that he could lead the IU offense to an upset win against No. 4 Wisconsin and the Richard Lagow that lost his job to redshirt freshman Peyton Ramsey earlier in the season.
Both Lagows manifested themselves in similar situations.
When Wisconsin scored to push its lead to 24-10 just past the midway point of the third quarter, it appeared the Hoosiers would lose traction. But Lagow led what would eventually be IU’s final scoring drive immediately after the Badger score, throwing 3-for-5 for 45 yards and a 17-yard touchdown to junior receiver Simmie Cobbs.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter, when Wisconsin went up 34-17 after a Lagow interception, and the Hoosiers had another chance to stay in the game. But on the first play from scrimmage, Lagow threw for Luke Timian on a short route, and the ball tipped off the junior’s hands and into Joe Ferguson’s for Lagow’s second pick of the game.
The second interception all but sealed the game, as the Badgers took a 21-point lead, 38-17, late in the final quarter on their way to a 45-17 victory Saturday afternoon.
“You know, he did some good things, but he didn’t protect the football,” IU head coach Tom Allen said. “That’s really what it comes down to.”
Before his two interceptions in back-to-back drives, Lagow was 17-of-25, with 203 yards and two touchdowns. He found both Cobbs and sophomore running back Devonte Williams for touchdowns and completed seven passes of 16 yards or more. The senior even escaped the pocket on occasion and found productive yardage on blown plays.
He had the opportunity to be the Richard Lagow of old — who beat Michigan State in 2016 and passed for 410 yards on then-No. 1 Ohio State.
But as the failed chances for the IU defense to take the ball away piled up and Wisconsin continued to stack up 52 rushes with four rushing touchdowns and IU had its back against the ropes, Lagow couldn’t come through.
“There are some plays that, obviously, you think about throughout the course of the game that you wish had gone a little differently — wish that you had gone somewhere else with the ball,” Lagoiw said. “The two interceptions stand out, but there’s a lot of plays, when you critique yourself, you see plenty of things to learn from.”
The Hoosiers entered Saturday’s game as the 116th-ranked team in turnover margin in the nation, and while senior linebacker Tegray Scales had an interception in the first quarter that later resulted in an IU touchdown, IU couldn’t get on top of two late forced fumbles and lost the ball on a controversial Morgan Ellison fumble.
Allen expressed dismay in regard to the turnover margin after the game, as protecting the football was the first and only topic he brought up in his opening statement. Lagow was no exception to the coach’s dismay.
“He did some good things, for sure,” Allen said. “But it’s about protecting the football. It’s just huge. You can go back to all the stats. Gotta protect the football.”
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