On his first nine carries of the game, Tevin Coleman rushed for just 20 yards.
On his next nine carries, Coleman had 191.
That included a 67-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left in the first half to give IU a 13-10 lead at halftime.
The junior running back finished with a career-high 307 yards rushing on 32 carries. That’s the second-most yards in program history, only behind Anthony Thompson, who rushed for 377 during the 1989 season.
But Coleman’s career day wasn’t good enough to overcome several second-half breakdowns, both offensively and defensively, in IU’s 45-23 loss to Rutgers on Saturday.
“We have young receivers who didn’t make their plays,” Wilson said. “A little bit better offensive performance today, but when you kick three field goals on the road, especially when you’re playing it close, that is going to bite you a little bit.”
The Hoosiers opened the second half with a field goal to extend their lead to 16-10.
But 21 unanswered points by the Scarlet Knights put the game virtually out of reach. Rutgers got two quick touchdowns in the third quarter, one on a 47-yard run by freshman Robert Martin and another on a 34-yard pass from quarterback Gary Nova to receiver Leonte Carroo.
On the ensuing IU drive, freshman quarterback Zander Diamont was intercepted.
Rutgers would extend its lead to 31-16 before the end of the third quarter.
Freshman receivers Simmie Cobbs and Dominique Booth each had dropped passes in the quarter, and punter Erich Toth fumbled the ball on a fake punt attempt.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t frustrating,” Diamont said. “But I’m in no position to be criticizing anybody for some dropped balls based on the last few weeks and how I’ve played.”
Dropped passes often killed any offensive momentum the Hoosiers gained, and a couple turnovers gave Rutgers extra opportunities to score.
Despite not getting much help from his receivers, Diamont had the best game of his short career. He was 15-of-31 passing for 179 yards.
Diamont threw his first career touchdown pass to senior Shane Wynn at the beginning of the fourth quarter to bring the Hoosiers within eight points.
Wynn finished with 11 catches for 120 yards.
After holding the Scarlet Knights to 10 first-half points, the Hoosier defense allowed 35 points in the second half.
Senior cornerback Tim Bennett said his team’s intensity in the first half didn’t carry over to after the break.
“In the second half we just had to tackle better,” Bennett said. “We have to build on the first half and continue on with the same energy.”
Throughout the season, defensive coordinator Brian Knorr has emphasized preventing explosive plays, which he considers passes of more than 15 yards and rushes of more than 12.
Explosive plays killed the Hoosiers on Saturday.
The IU defense gave up touchdowns of 34, 47 and 56 yards.
A plethora of mistakes on both sides of the ball, including nine total penalties accounting for 82 negative yards, were too much for IU to overcome. The loss puts them out of bowl contention this season and still winless in conference play.
The Hoosiers travel to Ohio State next week and then play Purdue at home to close the season.
“It is going to be tough, but we are going to focus on these seniors continuing to lead and build this team the way we want it built,” Wilson said.
