It was a much better effort from the Hoosiers than the one we saw last week at North Texas, but IU didn't have quite enough offense and lost 16-10 to Penn State Saturday afternoon.
This is another one of those games that's kind of tough to swallow because IU had its chances. If the offense could have moved the ball consistently, the Hoosiers could have won.
But without further ado, here's five things we learned from Saturday's loss.
1. Mike Ekeler wasn't lying...The co-defensive coordinator promised to fix the defense earlier this week, and the unit looked much better against PSU. Granted, the PSU quarterbacks didn't play very well, but it was still good to see substantial improvement.
The Hoosiers have made major strides in stopping the run, and they held PSU in several key situations Saturday -- notably on 3rd-and-1 late in the game to get the ball back. PSU still got one big play -- a 74-yard TD pass -- but the Hoosiers definitely improved this week.
2. RB position is a revolving door...JUCO transfer Stephen Houston got the start at running back for the Hoosiers on Saturday, the third different back to start in the first five games for IU. Matt Perez and D'Angelo Roberts have also started.
Roberts missed the game with a concussion he suffered in practice on Tuesday, and Perez has gotten fewer and fewer touches the last two weeks. He had only two carries for four yards against PSU.
Houston, meanwhile, looked pretty good at times. He had 60 tough yards on 18 carries and really seemed to energize the team throughout the afternoon. Who knows which back will start against Illinois next week, but Houston definitely didn't disappoint on Saturday.
3. Home and away= Night and day...For whatever reason, the Hoosiers look like a completely different team at Memorial Stadium than they do anywhere else. I can't really explain it. But IU had tons of energy all afternoon against PSU, a week after they showed very little emotion against North Texas. You'd like to see more consistency in that department, especially with a trip to Wisconsin only two weeks away.
4. Still no starting QB...Dusty Kiel got the start at QB for IU on Saturday, and he wasn't great. Edward Wright-Baker was dealing with an ankle injury, but I almost think Kiel would have started either way based on the way he played against North Texas last week.
Either way, the Hoosiers still don't have a definitive starting quarterback, and the season is now five weeks old. That's concerning. Kiel was OK for the most part -- he was 22-of-45 for 184 yards with a touchdown and an interception -- but he didn't lead a touchdown drive until four minutes remained in the fourth quarter.
To be fair, his receivers weren't helping him out with dropped passes, and the offensive line play was poor, but I don't think he's the answer. I think we'll see Wright-Baker back under center next week.
5. Belcher doesn't look like Belcher...Damarlo Belcher is supposed to be the Hoosiers' best offensive player, and he really hasn't looked like it so far this season. He dropped several passes on Saturday, and his route running wasn't nearly as crisp as it normally is.
Maybe it's an injury. But maybe it's that he isn't buying into Wilson's system at this point. He just seems a little checked out to me, but that's purely speculative on my part. He still was IU's leading receiver with six catches for 60 yards, but he could have had a lot more.
It will be interesting to see how he fares the rest of the way. Having Duwyce Wilson back on the opposite side should help, too, but we don't know when he will be back.
