Lessons learned from football's first game

The good news: IU wore out the scoreboard by scoring 51 points — 38 by halftime — and compiling 374 yards of total offense in its season-opening victory against Towson.

The bad news (why does there always seem to be bad news with IU football?): The Hoosiers gave up 387 yards and two huge plays to a team that struggles offensively.

That’s the way the night went. One minute, sophomore running back Darius Willis was running past every Towson defender for a 49-yard touchdown, and the next the Hoosiers were allowing Towson quarterback Chris Hart more time than he could ever need to survey the field and find the open receiver.

It’s sometimes difficult to evaluate a team’s performance in an opener — especially against a Football Championship Subdivision team such as Towson — but several themes from Thursday night’s game promise to persist throughout the year.

The defense will struggle.

Much has been made of the Hoosiers’ move to the 3-4 defense in the offseason, but judging by their performance against the Tigers, things aren’t going to be a heck of a lot different than 2009.

The IU secondary looked weak at times, especially on a 64-yard TD pass from Hart to Towson receiver Hakeem Moore. Granted, the Hoosiers’ defensive line didn’t do the secondary any favors by putting little to no pressure on Hart.

To win games in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers can’t allow the big plays. They have run with the Indianapolis Colts’ old “bend but don’t break” philosophy. The problem is, they were broken several times by Towson. (Note: Had their quarterback and receivers been on the same page, the Tigers would have had a couple more scores. Countless drops and bad throws killed them.)

Evans has promise.

Mitchell Evans, that is. The former wide receiver and Wildcat quarterback had a big debut at safety, and as disappointing as the defense was for much of the night, provided reason to be positive about the rest of the season. Two of his seven tackles were of the touchdown-saving variety, and his first-quarter interception came at a key point in the game.

Darius Willis is the man.

When he’s healthy, of course. Old news, let’s move on.

The IU offense isn’t as good as it looked.

Ben Chappell, Willis and the gang had a great night, but they received plenty of assistance from the Tigers.

Example: On a play midway through the first quarter, Hart rolled out of the pocket and had at least 10 to 15 yards to run (he is a running quarterback, mind you). Instead, the Towson junior chose to throw to a well-covered receiver downfield.

Result: An Evans pick, which set up an IU touchdown. (Big Ten quarterbacks will make better decisions.)

Only one of the Hoosiers’ five first-half touchdowns came on a long drive. Two Towson turnovers, a failed attempt at an onside kick and a botched punt attempt gave IU a short field to work with on nearly every possession.

Chappell has to learn to throw the ball away.

The fifth-year senior was efficient for much of the game, but one play late in the first quarter illustrated a skill Chappell has yet to master during his time in Bloomington.
When pass rushers are coming and nobody is open, throw the ball away. No harm, no foul. Live to play another down.

On this particular play, however, Chappell threw a ball into no-man’s land and nearly had it intercepted. This from a guy who threw 17 picks a year ago — something has to change.

The Hoosiers were by no means perfect against a team with a 61-man roster. Compare their performance with last year’s 19-13 win against Eastern Kentucky, on the other hand, and it looks a lot better.

At the end of the day, it’s a win. IU is one game closer to finishing the season in a bowl game — that’s what is most important.