Sophomore kicker Jared Smolar gave it a good shot.
Early in the second quarter of IU’s homecoming matchup with Iowa on Saturday, IU had just cut Iowa's lead to 14-10 via a Peyton Ramsey touchdown pass and then kicked the ball to Iowa sophomore wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette.
He bobbled the ball, giving the Hoosiers a chance to swarm upon him and force the Hawkeyes to start deep in their own territory.
But Smith-Marsette recovered and proceeded to juke out at least four of Smolar’s IU teammates, leaving nothing but a scrambling Smolar and wide open Memorial Stadium turf between him and the end zone.
As Smith-Marsette bounded down the sideline, Smolar hurled himself toward him, only to be leaped over by Smith-Marsette like Somlar was a track and field hurdle.
While Smolar’s tackle attempt forced Smith-Marsette to land out of bounds, the 60-yard return had done its damage. It set up Iowa junior quarterback Nate Stanley with great field position to throw his third of six touchdown passes just four plays and two minutes later.
It was a painful memory for IU Coach Tom Allen.
“It’s unfortunate,” Allen said. “Because that could have changed the whole complexion of the game.”
Smith-Marsette’s romp was the most prolific example of the way the Hawkeyes used kickoff returns as a weapon throughout their dominant 42-16 victory. Iowa entered the game with the top kick return average in the country at 32.25 yards per attempt.
After torching the Hoosiers with a total of 136 yards on their four attempts Saturday, the Hawkeyes' average was bumped up to 33.1 yards per return.
IU was on the opposite side of those kick return stats.
When the Hoosiers’ designated returner, senior running back Mike Majette, returned an Iowa kickoff for 18 yards in the fourth quarter, it marked the first return attempt of the day after Majette had signaled for a fair catch on the previous six kickoffs.
It’s been a recurring theme for IU this season, as that return was also the first attempt the Hoosiers have had as a team since week three against Ball State.
On the year, they ranked 105th in the country in kickoff return average heading into the Iowa game, and after Saturday’s contest the Hoosiers have now returned seven of a possible 35 kickoffs this year for just 127 yards.
Some of those opportunities have been kicks that have been sent too deep into the end zone and are too risky to return anyway.
But Allen said his team’s hesitancy in the return game has been more affected by the new rule in college football that allows teams to fair catch any kickoff behind the 25-yard line and receive possession on the 25-yard line.
“It was pure game plan,” Allen said. “We’re just trying to maximize the new rule.”
Despite that rule, Iowa continued to risk it on its returns. Meanwhile, IU remained conservative even with options like senior wide receiver J-Shun Harris II, IU's designated punt returner, and flashy young players like freshman athlete Reese Taylor, who has had some return experience this season.
Coming into Saturday’s game, IU’s six total return attempts was more than just 11 of the other 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams.
But at least one of those teams surpassed the Hoosiers this week.
Behind big plays like Smith-Marsette’s second quarter return, Iowa, who came in to the game with a total of just four return attempts for 129 yards this season, more than matched that number with its performance Saturday. It pushed them one return attempt and more than 150 return yards ahead of the Hoosiers.
But Allen said fans shouldn’t expect to see any less of Majette’s hand-waving fair catch gestures moving forward.
“That’s the approach we’ve taken,” Allen said. “I don’t think that’s going to change a whole lot.”
