Wow. I still can't believe what I saw Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. It was like the Hoosiers and Cavaliers played three different games. It had to be an exciting game for those fans that stayed in the stands throughout. I know many students are probably reading this thinking IU got blown out as the student section noticeably shrunk after halftime.
The Hoosiers came back, but as they usually do, they lost a close game. Hey, but this time they did it in white helmets.
This is what we learned about IU in week two:
1. Coach Wilson is still learning ... For the second week in a row, he made a questionable call in a key situation. And for the second week in a row, it failed. This time, he went with a fake field goal after the team accepted a delay of game penalty that moved the ball back to the UVA 8-yard line.
Sneaky, yes. But it was a stupid call. If he takes the points there, Edward Wright-Baker isn't being hit in his back on the Hoosiers' final drive of the game. It's like Wilson wants so badly to show that he's changing things around here -- that he's going to be aggressive -- that he's making dumb calls. That's the second week in a row that he completely changed the game with one of the calls.
Hopefully he's learned his lesson and will be more selective with his aggressiveness from here on out.
2. The Hoosiers have fight ... and they're clearly well-conditioned as well. I don't think I've seen an IU team come back in the second half like the Hoosiers came back on Saturday. They scored 28 consecutive points to take an eight-point lead, and had Virginia looking exhausted and shocked.
Clearly, the offseason workouts paid off a little bit. If they can continue to look this strong in second halves -- and they don't spot the opponent a 20-point lead -- they should win some games this year.
3. But they still can't win close games ... I couldn't believe my eyes at the end of that game. After the Hoosiers had climbed all the way back, they still couldn't come up with one defensive stop -- on the drive or the two-point conversion. That's the same old team, right? Isn't that exactly what happened in last year's Michigan game?
To truly prove a defense is improved, it has to stop an offense in the most critical of moments. And even though IU's defense looked much better against Virginia, it still couldn't keep the Cavaliers out of the end zone when Virginia had to score.
And then the unthinkable happened -- the Hoosiers lost the game. In that situation, when you're getting the ball back in a tie game with just over a minute to play, overtime should be your worst-case scenario. But EWB got hit by defensive end Cam Johnson in his backside, and the game was history.
Like so many people said on the live chat during the game: "God hates IU football." It sure seems that way sometimes, doesn't it?
4. Belcher still isn't getting the ball enough ... I can't figure this out. EWB talked all week about needing to get the ball to Damarlo Belcher more, and then he didn't do it on Saturday. Belcher had four catches for 53 yards, and at least three of those were on designed screen passes. Last week, Belcher had four grabs for 101 yards and a TD.
There were times during the game where EWB didn't even look to Belcher's side -- even when he had single coverage. EWB missed him once on a deep ball, but he missed everybody on those passes. For the Hoosiers to be successful, EWB is going to have to give Belcher more jump ball opportunities where he can go up and make a play. We saw what can happen when you do that against Ball State.
I asked EWB if he thought he got the ball to Belcher enough after the game, and he said something along the lines of: "I threw to whoever was open and they made the plays." I don't think he always did hit the open guy because, like last week, he failed to see the whole field at times. EWB also turns his body to one side instead of looking straight down the field and seeing both sides at once. It was only his second start, so hopefully he'll continue to grow.
5. Heban is good ... I thought I knew this before the season when I picked him as my defensive player of the year, but he continues to impress me in more ways each week. Cornerback Greg Heban, who came to IU from Muncie to play baseball, is becoming somewhat of a lockdown corner.
Heban had seven tackles, one pass breakup and two interceptions against Virginia -- one coming on the first play of the game. I wonder if teams will start picking on the other corner, Lawrence Barnett, as the season goes along.
