Following its devastating road loss at No. 25 Michigan State, IU football will have a break in its schedule. The Hoosiers enter their first of two bye weeks with a 3-2 record but zero wins in Big Ten play.
Monday afternoon, IU head coach Tom Allen met with the media to reflect on Saturday’s loss and look ahead to how he’ll approach this time off.
Here are three takeaways.
The freshman class is making a difference early.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Michael Penix Jr. put up riveting numbers in his return from injury and earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for the second time this season. A number of true freshmen joined Penix in earning significant play time for the Hoosiers this weekend.
With senior offensive lineman and captain Coy Cronk out for the season with an ankle injury, Allen turned to freshman Matthew Bedford to fill the void in the trenches. Bedford was expected to be one of several offensive linemen to come in and out of Saturday’s game, but nobody could have foreseen his initial production
“Ended up starting (Bedford), and he played every snap,” Allen said. “We really weren't, going into it, 100% sure he would be able to handle that type of workload in that environment for the first time ever, but he did a great job.”
It was no short order for Bedford either. It was his first start in his first true road game against a consensus top-10 defense, but the freshman persevered. The offensive line played as one despite its lack of Cronk, giving Penix plenty of time in the pocket and IU’s running backs the chance to break off big plays.
Freshman cornerback Tiawan Mullen played like a veteran on the defensive side of the ball. The Hoosier secondary struggled in coverage Saturday, but Mullen was in a rhythm. Lining up against some of the Spartans’ best receivers, Mullen broke up four passes without allowing a completion all game.
Allen was critical of defense, especially when closing out halves.
Plenty of positive thoughts have seemed to resonate with Allen after Saturday, but his biggest frustration is clearly with the defense. Things even got chippy on IU’s sideline against MSU when the head coach briefly went after defensive coordinator Kane Wommack with anger.
Allen, a former defensive coordinator, said he doesn’t need to apologize to Wommack for his actions and that the bigger task at hand is working together to clean up the Hoosier defense.
“Have to communicate better, have to do a better job defensively,” Allen said. “As we elevate our level of play and move into conference opponents, the margin for error becomes smaller and smaller in those areas.”
The fiery interaction between Allen and Wommack came at the end of the second quarter when IU had allowed a quick score to Michigan State before halftime. The Hoosiers needed to end the half with a stop but instead began the third quarter trailing by a touchdown.
At the end of the game, when IU’s chances rode on the defense’s ability to make clutch stops, it folded and allowed 19 points, the most in any quarter Saturday. Allen said it’s “unacceptable” for the defense to close like that in those scenarios.
The team is close to full health, and rehabbing was emphasized for bye week.
Aside from Cronk and his season-ending surgery, the Hoosiers are looking to come out of the bye week at full health. No IU players sustained any injuries against Michigan State despite the game’s brutal pace and tempo.
“We came out of the game healthy, which is good,” Allen said. “It's a physical game against those guys, it always is. They play that style.”
One of Allen’s three goals this week is to progress with recovery and rehab of injured players, including sophomore defensive lineman Juan Harris and sophomore defensive back Reese Taylor.
Allen had no updates on freshman receiver Da’Shaun Brown and his timetable for return but expects Harris and Taylor to be active for the homecoming game against Rutgers at noon Oct. 12 at Memorial Stadium.
