IU’s 26-24 win over Purdue, much like the Old Oaken Bucket itself, felt hollow.
The win is significant in that IU is now bowl eligible for the second consecutive season. But, the victory revealed the same maddening problems that have plagued this offense all season.
It should have never been this close.
Purdue’s defense had been giving up just less than 40 points per game — which was good for 120th in the nation. IU’s offense felt anemic against it. The Hoosiers’ inconsistency in their ability to move the ball has stunted this team’s growth.
It managed 269 total yards against Purdue’s flailing defense. That’s just not good enough.
“We ran but didn’t run as good as we needed to,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “Some stats looked like we ran better than they did, but that was kind of one of our Achilles, ability to throw it. They did a great job on us there.”
Against Purdue, IU’s two quarterbacks — juniors Richard Lagow and Zander Diamont — combined to throw for only 117 yards on 11 completions. The pair also managed to throw four mind-numbingly bad interceptions, sinking IU’s offense on multiple drives.
Self-inflicted adversity.
“A lot of turnovers, a lot of bad things that happened for us on offense, it was nice that we kept coming and stayed positive,” senior wide receiver Mitchell Paige said.
The offense made plays late in a way that had been lacking in previous weeks, but it only got those chances because the defense kept them in the game.
That’s the story of the season.
Defensive coordinator Tom Allen’s unit was the backbone of the team.
“We rode them all season,” Paige said. “Coach Allen did a heck of a job, and those guys really bought in and were flying around, especially today.”
With a better offense, this season might look a whole lot different, and the Hoosiers would not have been scraping until the clock hit zero in the last game of season to become bowl eligible.
“Credit to Tom on just him and getting his staff and everybody on the same page, so they could take the message to the players,” Wilson said. “They have been very consistent with them and their standard.”
The defensive improvements, at times, seem wasted by this offense. With an offense that is just a few points better, this might very well be an eight-win team.
“We’re still not as consistent as we want to be, but we’ve been competitive,” Wilson said.
This program lacks consistency. Last year, its defense kept it from winning more games, while this year the opposite has proven true.
aphussey@indiana.edu
