Lynch emphasizes need to reduce turnovers in presser

The IU football team entered Saturday’s game against Illinois with seven turnovers on the year.

That theme did not carry on to Champaign.

The Hoosiers had five turnovers in their 43-13 loss against Illinois. Two of the interceptions were taken back for touchdowns. The other three turnovers were made in IU territory.

It is a statistic that IU head coach Bill Lynch believes was indicative of the results.

“The turnovers and mistakes — you cannot win Big Ten football games with that,” Lynch said. “Certainly the turnovers that lead directly to scores and field position was dramatically in their favor because of our mistakes.”

While senior quarterback Ben Chappell tied a career-high with three interceptions, he still had success with the throwing game. It marked the fifth time this year that Chappell threw for at least 275 yards and a touchdown.

Lynch said the turnovers tarnished the numbers that Chappell was able to put up.

“We’re talking about a guy that had 26 completions for 278 yards against a really good defense,” Lynch said. “So we did some things decent. But they are totally overshadowed by the turnovers.”

Defense finding niche

A look at the statistics shows that the Illini scored 43 points which would usually mean that the defense had a sub-par day. But the Hoosiers only allowed 289 total yards, a yard shy of their season low at Western Kentucky on Sept. 18. The five IU turnovers led to 24 points for the Illini, while the defense stood its ground, given the short field behind it.

“We gave up very few big plays, we limited missed tackles and our assignment mistakes have dramatically gone down over the last two or three weeks,” Lynch said. “I think the fact that we’ve solidified who’s playing where over the last couple weeks has certainly helped.”

Lynch credits the emergence of several defensive players, including senior defensive end Terrance Thomas, junior linebacker Leon Beckum and junior defensive end Darius Johnson as a reason for the improvement as the year has progressed.

Getting guys into the right position is something Lynch knew would be a process.

“There’s a lot of mixing and matching that went about, and early on I said that this was going to be a good defense,” Lynch said. “We knew it was going to take a little bit of time.”

One banged-up Chap

The last play Chappell made on Saturday was a 28-yard pass to redshirt freshman tight end Ted Bolser. Chappell hung in the pocket and got the last of many hits he took on the day. After that play, Chappell exited the game and went to the sideline to begin treating multiple bumps and bruises.

On Sunday morning, Chappell received treatment to deal with his variety of sore muscles.

“There wasn’t really much they could do for me besides put some ice on different spots,” Chappell said. “Luckily, nothing is broken, so I’ll be fine.”

Seeing Chappell getting treatment on a Sunday morning is something Lynch knows comes with the territory.

“He’ll be fine,” Lynch said. “He’s a beat-up guy, but that’s part of it. If you’re going to play that position in a pass offense where you don’t really run the ball a lot, you’re going to take some shots. He’s beat up, but he’s not down, and he’s a competitor.”