Hoosiers struggle in the red zone

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – IU finished with more total yards and time of possession than No. 23 Michigan on Saturday, but the Wolverines did one thing the Hoosiers could not.

They capitalized when opportunities presented themselves.

“When it’s all said and done, and you look back, that’s the big difference,” IU coach Bill Lynch said after his team’s 36-33 loss. “But you have to give Michigan’s defense some credit. They bowed up and kept us out of the end zone.”

IU’s red-zone offense posted four field goals and only one touchdown after the completion of the first quarter. The scenario played out on multiple occasions, with the Hoosiers settling for field goals rather than touchdowns.

Tied at 14 points after 15 minutes, the Hoosiers had chances to put the ball in the end zone and quiet the 108,118 fans in Michigan Stadium.

The second IU drive of the second quarter started the way Lynch had wanted. Junior quarterback Ben Chappell looked strong with three consecutive completions for 34 yards in reaching the Michigan 13-yard line.

Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, a run for no gain by freshman running back Darius Willis and two short passes for six total yards led to a field goal by freshman kicker Nick Freeland.

An interception by freshman defensive tackle Nicholas Sliger a few minutes later gave the Hoosiers prime field position at the Michigan 29-yard line.

But even with a 26-yard pass from Chappell to sophomore wide receiver Tandon Doss, IU could not find the end zone and added only three points to their total for a 20-14 lead.

IU continued to rely on Freeland, who finally missed a field goal on 42-yard kick early in the fourth quarter.  

“We are always coached to score touchdowns in the red zone, and today we just didn’t do what we needed to do,” junior wide receiver Terrance Turner said. “We got into position to make plays and just didn’t make enough plays to win the game.”

And when the Wolverines needed to score, they did.

Michigan freshman quarterback Tate Forcier opened the fourth quarter with a 13-play drive that culminated in his seven-yard touchdown run down the right sideline. Forcier’s eight-yard scamper into the end zone for the two-point conversion gave the Wolverines a 29-26 lead with 9:15 remaining in the game.

Willis responded for IU on the very next play from scrimmage with an 85-yard run down the left sideline to put the Hoosiers back on top, 33-29.

But Forcier was not finished.

The young quarterback calmly led his team down the field before throwing a 26-yard strike into the end zone for sophomore wide receiver  Martavious Odoms and a three-point advantage.

With 2:29 remaining, Chappell had one final shot to win the game.

But his pass intended for sophomore wide receiver Damaralo Belcher was intercepted by Michigan cornerback Donovan Warren, and IU’s hopes of an upset were over.
Chappell said the Hoosiers’ failure to put the ball in the end zone was a major factor in their loss on Saturday.

“You just can’t do that and win games,” he said. “A lot of it’s on me – missing Tandon (Doss) in the corner and there were some other guys open, but we got to play better. We just didn’t execute.”