His counterpart, No. 8 Michigan State’s Connor Cook, was 24-of-32 passing for 332 yards and three touchdowns.
That was the difference in a 56-17 game.
“He just had a tough day,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said.
Despite early success, Diamont couldn’t lead the IU offense down the field enough to put any serious threat to taking the Old Brass Spittoon from the Spartans on Homecoming.
With Michigan State leading 14-3, IU senior receiver Shane Wynn took a reverse 75 yards for a score to cut the lead to 14-10 with 12:07 left to play in the second quarter.
Freshman linebacker Tegray Scales intercepted a pass from Cook later in the quarter after the teams spent time trading field positions. That set the table for a 9-yard rushing touchdown for Diamont to put IU up 17-14 with 5:25 left in the half.
That’s when the wheels fell off.
Michigan State (6-1, 3-0) scored 42 unanswered points while the IU offense struggled to get any sort of consistent movement down the field.
There were times when the defending Rose Bowl Champion Spartans seemed vulnerable.
Michigan State gave up 213 total rushing yards to the Hoosiers (3-4, 0-3) and allowed Tevin Coleman to rush for 132 yards on 15 ?carries.
He was the first opponent to go for more than 100 yards against the Spartan defense.
But take out two carries that combined for 95 yards, and Coleman managed just 37 yards on 13 other carries.
Minus Coleman’s two rushes for 95 yards and Wynn’s 75-yard reverse for a touchdown, the Hoosiers averaged just .93 yards per play on the other 46 offensive snaps.
Coleman said after a few explosive plays, the Spartans started keying in on the run, challenging Diamont to throw the ball.
When the Hoosiers failed to muster any serious aerial threat, there wasn’t much Coleman or the other IU rushers could do.
“If there was balance in the passing, then definitely there would be more big runs, and they would soften up,” Coleman said. “But it wasn’t there. They just came after us.”
Diamont mostly struggled to get into rhythm all day.
With about five minutes left in the third quarter, he threw a pass well behind an open Wynn running across the middle of the field.
He was nearly sacked the next play, throwing the ball away as he was wrestled to the ground and called for intentional grounding.
He completed his next pass to freshman tight end Jordan Fuchs, but that completion went as a 5-yard loss.
Diamont was not made available for comment after the game.
“He jumped into some deep water,” Wilson said. “At the same time with that, we’ll see how quick he can grow from that.”
Wilson said the Hoosiers knew they had lost their second quarterback in three days late Monday afternoon when IU found out freshman Chris Covington had torn an anterior cruciate ligament.
That meant the Hoosiers had an entire week to prepare to run the offense through Diamont, but Wilson said the entire team can’t change for one player. Diamont himself needs to be able to adapt.
Sophomore offensive guard Dan Feeney said the overabundance of injuries at the already thin quarterback position has put a strain on the IU offense.
Feeney and Coleman both acknowledged IU’s upcoming bye week will come at a welcome time as IU looks to better acclimate itself with Diamont lining up behind center.
“It’s really just pushing our depth, you know, seeing what everyone can do,” Feeney said. “We’re just facing adversity right now. We’ve just got to push through it.”
