Colter’s offense too much for IU defense to handle

EVANSTON, Ill. — The stat line for Northwestern’s Kain Colter says it all about the Hoosiers’ defensive performance Saturday afternoon against the Wildcats.

The junior produced 294 net yards of offense for Northwestern for a record-breaking 704 total yards. The team defeated the Hoosiers 44-29 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill.

“He is probably one of the best athletes that we’ll face all year,” junior cornerback Greg Heban said. “When he has that threat of running and passing, you can’t focus just on one dimension, and it made it harder for us.”

Heading into this weekend, Colter had been one of the leading passers and rushers on Northwestern’s offense.

Through his first four games, he rushed for 210 yards and threw for 367 passing yards, producing two rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns. He didn’t have a single reception during the first four games after playing mostly as a wide receiver in 2011.

Against IU, Colter threw for a grand total of two yards on three attempts. From the quarterback position, he rushed for 161 yards and four touchdowns.

He also played wide receiver for the first time this season, and he caught nine passes for 131 yards.

“We didn’t really prepare for it that much because we saw him as quarterback for the first couple of games,” Heban said. “Those first couple of drives, we saw him at slot and (Trevor) Siemian at quarterback, and we had to adjust to that from there.”

Heban compared Colter’s efforts as wide receiver Saturday to that of former Hoosier wide receiver Tandon Doss, now playing for the Baltimore Ravens. Heban said Colter’s ability to “put a move on you” is among the best IU will face all season.

As successful as Colter was as a receiver from the slot, he was also effective from the quarterback position.

When receiving snaps, Colter switched between leading option plays and zone reads as the Wildcats ran for a total of 394 yards.

Colter succeeded in exploiting the Hoosiers’ flaws in the rush defense, whether it was through his own efforts or his running backs’.

“They popped us with some pistol-fast running out in space,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “I think sometimes, actually, we were close but then got blocked on the perimeter by their receivers.”

As the Hoosiers came back against Northwestern, closing the Wildcat lead to 37-29 after a touchdown run from sophomore running back D’Angelo Roberts, a Northwestern zone-read option on the following play once again killed IU’s momentum.

Colter kept the ball and ran it for 15 yards for a first down, a resounding theme of IU’s defensive play.

Though that drive ended in an interception again on the first play of the following Northwestern possession Colter kept the ball on a zone-read option play and ran for 17 yards into IU territory.

 Colter scored on a 22-yard run that drive, virtually sealing Northwestern’s victory against the Hoosiers.

“Any time a team puts 700 yards on a defense, it’s demoralizing,” Heban said. “They’re a great offense, Colter is a great player, but we just have to come back Monday ready to work and show we’re capable of playing Big Ten football.”