11/26/2022 football Edit

Second-half struggles put a close to Indiana’s season

Kevin Vera • TheHoosier

Staff Writer

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The 2022 football season has come to an end as the Indiana Hoosiers fall in their last game of the season 30-16. Indiana entered Saturday with high hopes coming off last week's victory over Michigan State. However, the game quickly dwindled down as the Boilermakers progressively inched their way toward victory. Defensively, Indiana did well in the first half, limiting Purdue to three points through the first 30 minutes, but as the second half progressed, Purdue took over offensively en route to a Big Ten West title.

Purdue’s only success came through the air with 113 yards but outside of the passing game, Indiana outplayed the Boilermakers in the first two quarters. They had more total yards than Purdue in the first thirty minutes outgaining them 196 to 133. The Hoosiers' main point of emphasis to start the game was on the ground and they completely outmatched the Boilermakers.

Jaylin Lucas led the group with 86 yards in the first half including a 71-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Indiana rushed for 166 yards while Purdue only had 20 rushing yards in the first half. The Hoosiers ran the ball 27 times in the first two quarters including nine of those being first downs. It looked like Indiana would be able to ride into the second half with the momentum but Purdue flipped a switch at halftime.

The Hoosiers did not have much success either offensively or defensively in the third or fourth quarter. After only scoring three points in the first two quarters, the Boilermakers would go on to score 27 points to close out the game. Two touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters smothered Indiana as they struggled to find the end zone.Their inability to put points on the board at the end of the game didn't help stop Purdue’s momentum, and for head coach Tom Allen that was one of the biggest reasons that put Indiana’s first-half success on pause.

Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Purdue Boilermakers running back Devin Mockobee (45) runs the ball against the Indiana Hoosiers during the second half at Memorial Stadium. Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports (Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports)

“I think that just the field gets smaller, shrinks down. We've got to win the one-on-ones at receiver…” Allen said, “I think when you get in that area of the field, you've got to win the one-on-ones. We obviously were not able to do that. It is a little harder to run the football down there, but, obviously, those happened without Dexter in the game, in terms of the way we had planned those out, I thought we would be able to finish those with touchdowns if we had him in those situations, but we didn't. You've got to be able to adapt to those.”

Purdue was able to earn more passing, rushing, and total yards than Indiana in the second half despite having ran 23 fewer plays than the Hoosiers. Indiana actually had more time with the football in their hands in comparison to Purdue, but the Hoosiers struggled to score. The Hoosiers had the ball for five more minutes than the Boilermakers but Indiana’s only points came from a field goal in the fourth quarter and a garbage time touchdown in the final seconds of the game. Jeff Brohm and company were even penalized more than the Hoosiers in the second half but still, Indiana couldn’t get things to click.

The team couldn't score when they needed to the most. Things looked mainly positive in the first half but as the game went on, Indiana’s window seemed to have closed in the final two quarters.

“Definitely disappointed,” Allen said. “We got the ball down there, we ran for over 200 yards and 26 first downs, but we've got to get touchdowns. We tried to kick a couple of field goals and missed two of them, which is frustrating. That's not usually who we are in that area. Then obviously had to go for it there in the end to get a touchdown. A lot of redzone opportunities; not enough touchdowns. ”

Indiana closes out the 2022 season with a 4-8 record and 2-7 in conference play. The game against Purdue highlighted the Hoosiers' entire season in an accurate fashion. Starting high with early momentum and riding a tough road to a disappointing end.