With junior quarterback Nate Sudfeld, the Hoosiers were scoring 32 points per game.
Since Sudfeld suffered a season-ending injury in a loss to Iowa, the Hoosiers have averaged a little more than 11 points per game.
“We’ve got to score points,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said.
A combination of no offense and good Big Ten defenses has led to a four-game losing streak for IU.
This week, the Hoosiers (3-6, 0-5) travel to Rutgers ?(5-4, 1-4).
The Scarlet Knights are on a three-game skid, with blow-out losses to Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
While both teams finished the non-conference season with winning records — IU was 3-1 and Rutgers 4-0 — they’ve struggled since opening Big Ten play.
IU doesn’t have a single conference win. Rutgers has one.
“We’re just trying to figure out different ways of working with the guys we have,” IU freshman receiver J-Shun Harris said. IU freshman quarterback Zander Diamont passed for 11 yards in his first game. Throughout the next two weeks, that number improved — but just barely.
Averaging just 34 yards through the air in the last three games, the offense has become nearly one-dimensional. And easy to defend.
In 2013, IU’s passing offense was ranked No. 17 in the country. Now, it’s No. 119.
Wilson said he’s running out of options on offense.
They’re down to their third quarterback, having gone to the fourth on occasion. They’ve tried the Wildcat, with Tevin Coleman and D’Angelo Roberts taking snaps.
And it’s not just the offense struggling to score. IU has scored just six points on defense this year and hasn’t scored a touchdown on ?special teams.
“We’re struggling offensively,” Wilson said. “And we have to get in the end zone, whether we’re creating defensive opportunities or kicking game opportunities.”
Since Wilson arrived in Bloomington in 2011, IU’s win total has increased in each of the last three seasons.
Now the Hoosiers are 3-6 and in need of three more wins. One loss would essentially mean an end to the ?season.
After Rutgers, the Hoosiers travel to Ohio State and then return home to play Purdue for the Old Oaken Bucket.
The sense of urgency is higher than ever, Harris said.
“We know that these three games, it’s do or die,” he said. “It’s not just because the situation we’re in, but since the beginning of the year we’ve been like, ‘Let’s go, this is the year, we gotta make a bowl game.’”
