The Hoosiers looked to be headed for an upset early after a kick return for a touchdown by freshman Shane Wynn, but reality quickly set in and IU fell 41-20 to the undefeated Fighting Illini (6-0, 2-0). Before we get to the five things we learned, I leave you here with a new part of my weekly blog post...
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "Good team, tough loss, same story." -- IU Coach Kevin Wilson after the Hoosiers' 41-20 loss to Illinois Saturday afternoon.
1. IU misses Chappell...Say what you want about Ben Chappell, but he would have had this Hoosier offense moving much better than any of the current quarterbacks. Edward Wright-Baker missed his second consecutive game with a bad ankle and Dusty Kiel looked bad as the starter. Freshman Tre Roberson, in his first extended time of the season, looked OK. He made some good throws and led a late touchdown drive, but he certainly wasn't perfect.
At this point, it's fair to wonder if Chappell was as valuable to the Hoosiers as Peyton Manning is to the Colts. I know it's not a perfect comparison, but both offenses are incredibly stagnant without their old QBs.
2. Shane Wynn is fast...Most of us knew this already, but Wynn finally found enough open space to show off that incredible speed. The freshman wide receiver returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and took another back to around the 40. We've seen Wynn sometimes try to do too much on some returns in other games, but Saturday's performance showed us how much he's capable of.
3. Defense still has holes...The Hoosiers looked much better last week, but they probably took a step back against Illinois. Big plays bit IU time and again, including two long touchdown passes from Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase to A.J. Jenkins. On the first one, IU came on an all-out blitz and the guy responsible for covering Jenkins left him all alone. The result was a 77-yard score. The second one was simply a one-on-one play between Jenkins and IU cornerback Greg Heban, and Jenkins outran him for a 67-yard TD.
The Hoosiers had their moments and made a few stops, but they have to keep improving. To their credit, the offense didn't do a lot to help them out.
4.Special teams stars...Punter Adam Pines was actually really good on Saturday with three punts inside the 20. Kicker Mitch Ewald was solid as always with two more field goals. Factor in Wynn's performance, and you have yourself one heck of a special teams day from a team that's struggled in that area in the past.
5. Wilson was conservative...For the second week in a row, Wilson didn't call any long passes until the game was well out of hand. I can't understand it. He was almost too aggressive in the first two weeks of the season and now he calls mostly screens and zone reads. What?
It looked almost as if Wilson was coaching not to lose against Illinois, and that certainly won't work. He needs to find a balance between the aggressive calls he made earlier in the season with the conservative ones he's been making lately.
