IU finishes non-Big Ten play 2-2

The Missouri Tigers traveled to Bloomington for the lone Big Ten-SEC regular season matchup of the 2013 regular season Saturday night and left Memorial Stadium with a 45-28 victory.

The Hoosiers’ defense forced three turnovers and four punts but allowed 623 yards, which is the most yards IU has allowed at Memorial Stadium.

Senior safety Greg Heban said the defense didn’t play as well as it needed to against Missouri’s well-balanced offense.

“I just think we could’ve been a little more aggressive,” he said. “Besides that, I just think the execution we had — they kind of nickeled and dimed us.”

Missouri quarterback James Franklin led the Tigers’ offense, completing 32-of-47 pass attempts for 343 yards and two touchdowns. Six different Missouri receivers recorded a reception against IU. Marcus Lucas and Dorial Green-Beckham both logged more than 100 receiving yards.

Heban had two interceptions in the first quarter, and freshman linebacker Marcus Oliver forced a fumble early in the second quarter.

“We got the turnovers, but the turnovers were really maybe just stops because it really happened in their end of the field,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said.

After the Hoosiers tied the game with touchdowns on consecutive drives in the second quarter, Missouri defensive lineman Kony Ealy broke the game open with an interception return for a touchdown.

“The guy made a heck of a play, and unfortunate for us and fortunate for them,” sophomore quarterback Nate Sudfeld said. “I wish I had that one back.”

It was the first of three interceptions that Sudfeld threw on the night. Sophomore quarterback Tre Roberson also saw action under center Saturday night because Wilson said the Hoosiers needed a spark.

“We will keep working both those guys in our game plan. There’s not a quarterback
controversy,” he said. “We will just keep playing them and see how it goes. We put Tre in because we felt that we needed a little change of pace.”

IU’s quarterbacks were a combined 29-of-53 on their pass attempts for 377 yards.

The Hoosiers only ran the ball 26 times for 98 yards.

Wilson said the key to the game was Missouri’s balance on offense and employment of a rushing attack that the Hoosiers lacked.

“I think our opponent played with some balance on offense, and we didn’t,” he said. “That’s a credit to their defense and not a credit to ours. Their offense was well-executed, and we didn’t.”

Missouri ran the ball by committee for 280 yards. Four Missouri players had double-digit carries, but sophomore tailback Russell Hansbrough was the Tigers’ only 100-yard back.

Wilson said he appreciated the way that the Hoosiers fought, but IU has to learn to play more efficiently in big games.

“We can’t fall behind, give up points and be a one-dimensional team,” he said.
Wilson said it is disappointing for the Hoosiers to be 2-2 after a “pretty good non-conference schedule.”

“We have an open week,” he said, “which will give us a chance to get some guys healthy, and we will see if we can do some self-evaluation on what we need to do to put our players in better positions and play at a higher level.”

Follow reporter Andy Wittry on Twitter @AndyWittryIDS.