IU struggles to get ball into 'red zone' against Illini

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Last week in practice, coach Gerry DiNardo and his staff worked on IU's Big Ten-worst red zone offense (scoring 57.7 percent of the times in the red zone this season). This week, the team was perfect inside the Illinois 20-yard line.\nUnfortunately for the Hoosiers, they didn't get the ball into the red zone until they were already trailing Illinois 45-0 with less than 4 minutes remaining to play.\nWhile IU managed to score two touchdowns to close the gap to 45-14 at game's end, throughout the course of the game the offense was simply unable to move the ball against a statistically porous Illinois defense that had been giving up 29.7 points per game.\n"I didn't think that we executed very well at all," DiNardo said.\nIU's first possession of the game provided effective foreshadowing of things to come. The Hoosiers went three-and-out, with senior quarterback Gibran Hamdan misfiring on pass attempts to junior running back Brian Lewis and freshman wide receiver Tyke Spencer.\n"We had people open, and I was missing the throws," Hamdan said.\nOn their first possession, the Illini moved the ball 67 yards in nine plays, topping the drive off with a 31-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Dustin Ward to junior wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.\nThe Illinois offense never looked back, exploding for 35 points in the first half.\nMeanwhile, the IU offense looked flatter than the topography around Champaign's Memorial Stadium.\nIU first ventured into Illinois territory with under four minutes left to play in the first quarter on a two-yard screen pass from Hamdan to freshman running back Yamar Washington that put the Hoosiers on the Illini 49-yard line. The ensuing third down play was an incomplete pass for junior wide receiver Glenn Johnson, and another IU drive came to a halt.\nThe Hoosiers managed just 43 yards in the first quarter to the 173 gained by the Illini.\n"They (the defense) didn't necessarily show me anything that I was surprised by," Hamdan said. "Obviously they played a very good game, and you have to give them credit as a defense. But we shot ourselves in the foot numerous times."\nBy the next time they touched the ball, IU already trailed the game 21-0. However, they were finally able to show signs that they could move the ball against the Illinois defense.\nHamdan hit sophomore wide receiver Courtney Roby for a 26-yard completion to the IU 49-yard line to get the drive started. On the next play, Washington broke IU's first notable run of the game, going nine yards to the Illinois 42.\nEverything got thrown out the window on the next play. Hamdan and Washington collided on a hand-off attempt, and the ball helplessly fell to the turf and into the waiting hands of Illinois junior defensive lineman Derrick Strong.\nUnlike previous games, where the Hoosiers had been able to climb back into the game after falling behind early, this time IU's comeback was over before it started.\n"I think that we didn't play hard at any point in the game," DiNardo said.\nIU would move the ball into Illinois territory twice before the end of the second quarter. \nDown 28-0, Hamdan led a drive to the Illinois 36-yard line. The offense would move backwards from there, with Hamdan getting sacked for a seven-yard loss. An incompletion brought up fourth-and-17, and IU was forced to punt.\nIU sniffed the red zone on its next possession. After getting the ball to the Illinois 30, an illegal chop block called on IU moved the ball back to the 45 yard-line. A pass from Hamdan to Roby moved IU back to the Illinois 34. But Hamdan was dropped for a sack on fourth down, ending the Hoosier scoring threat.\nTrailing 35-0 at halftime, DiNardo had little choice but to replace Hamdan with senior Tommy Jones at quarterback.\n"I didn't think Gibran passed the ball very well," DiNardo said. "He didn't look sharp at all."\nJones led the Hoosiers to their only two touchdowns in his relief effort, albeit IU's final score came against the Illini's second-stringers. Jones was 12 of 24 for 172 yards with an interception and a 44-yard touchdown pass to Spencer.\n"Nobody wants to go out there when something like that happens, but we wanted to go out there and see if we could get something going," Jones said.\nDiNardo said he would watch the tape to reassess the quarterbacking situation this week.