The poor play of quarterback Richard Lagow cost IU the game against Northwestern.
It’s as simple as that.
The junior quarterback had by far his worst game of the season on Saturday, and it sunk the Hoosiers’ offense.
“I mean, it needs to be a lot better,” Lagow said of his performance. “First half wasn’t very good. I didn’t come ready to play and it hurt the team.”
The last few weeks, IU has been close to breaking through offensively, but with Lagow struggling to accurately throw the ball, the offense had no chance of figuring things out against Northwestern.
An accurate Lagow can make any throw on the field, but his inability to do that cost IU points and valuable yards as open receivers weren’t able to haul in his errant throws.
At times he even missed easy dump-offs.
He was just too unreliable, and that doesn’t even take into account his interceptions. The pair he threw ups his total to 11 on the season, and Lagow knows that’s an area that needs improvement.
“Just my decision making would be No. 1,” Lagow said. “My pocket awareness would be another one I’d like to work on.”
Lagow’s footwork was sloppy. Too many times he stepped up in the pocket and didn’t properly set up to throw, which hampered his accuracy. To be fair, he was pressured a lot, but Lagow has to be able to make cleaner throws in muddy pockets.
IU Coach Kevin Wilson had to burn multiple timeouts to address his poor time management, too. Lagow failed to keep the speed of the offense up, and seven games in, that can’t still be an issue.
Statistically, he still connected on 35 of 59 passes for 319 yards, but those numbers feel hollow.
He just couldn’t consistently move the ball down the field.
“The quarterback’s got to play a lot better,” Wilson said. “He’s got some pass numbers still, but he’s got to play a lot better. They did a nice job of not giving up the big play.”
The big play was never there, but the way Lagow was throwing, he wouldn’t have hit it anyways.
The junior college transfer now has seven Division I starts under his belt. After high profile games against Michigan State, Ohio State and Nebraska, he’s had plenty of time to reach a certain level of comfort.
The scary thing is he’s backsliding and regressing. At this point in the season, his development should be hitting its stride, but his technique and poise looked worse against the Wildcats than it had all season — even worse than his five-interception game against Wake Forest.
At least the offense flowed against the Demon Deacons.
Lagow and the offense doesn’t need to score 40 points, the defense has shown it can step up and shut the Wildcats out in the second half. The offense just needs to show up.
The schedule gets easier the next few games, and the relief could allow Lagow some time to regain his form, but even though he’s playing poorly it’s not like there’s a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings.
Junior Zander Diamont can run, but he can’t consistently run an offense for four quarters. Sophomore Danny Cameron and freshman Austin King may have a more prototypical style like Lagow, but they can’t suit up in his place either.
The Hoosier offense is going to live and die with Lagow, and against the Wildcats, it died.
aphussey@indiana.edu
