Stock Up, Stock Down from Indiana's 21-14 Loss to Louisville
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Up and down would be the best way to describe what happened in Indianapolis on Saturday.
For the first 30 minutes of the game, coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers looked completely overmatched. IU entered the third quarter trailing Louisville 21-0, but burst to life in the second half. The Indiana offense rattled off 14 straight points, and had a chance to tie or take the lead on a fourth-and-goal inside the one-yard line late in the game.
As every Hoosier fan knows by this point, that fourth down did not go well.
Thus, Indiana lost 21-14, and now enters Week 4 with a 1-2 record. Here's who boosted their stock in Week 3 for IU, and whose stock took a hit in the seven-point loss to Louisville.
Stock Up
Tayven Jackson
The Indiana starting quarterback was on track to find himself in the stock down category following an abysmal first half performance.
But then the second half began, and oh man, was it pretty.
Tayven Jackson finished the game having completed 24-of-34 passes for 299 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Not since the 2020 rendition of Michael Penix Jr. has a quarterback wearing the crimson jersey played that well in a half of football.
Most impressive, though, is the lack of sacks that Jackson took in the game. Not once did Louisville drop the IU quarterback behind the line of scrimmage (though Jackson's rushing yards on the day were killed by a bad snap he was forced to recover 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage).
Jackson isn't even that fast or powerful on the ground, as pretty much all of Indiana's designed running plays for him failed. But the Center Grove-made quarterback has elite pocket awareness, and is an expert at avoiding pass rushers while keeping his eyes downfield.
Indiana still lost yesterday, and Jackson still had some bad plays. He was missing almost every throw high during the first half, including his interception that was directly caused by him throwing it too high for his intended receiver to handle. But the Hoosiers might have done something that many people didn't expect they would do in the 2023 season.
They might have found their star quarterback of the future.
Jaylin Lucas the wide receiver
The running game as a whole was brutal for Indiana against Louisville. Even taking out Jackson's aforementioned 13-yard loss on the fumble recovery, IU ball carriers would still only have 71 total yards on 26 attempts. That's a dismal 2.7 yards per carry.
However, the Hoosiers did still get their most dangerous offensive weapon the ball early and often.
Running back Jaylin Lucas finished the game with 10 receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown, far and away career highs for him as a pass catcher. His score early in the third quarter came when he absolutely decimated two Louisville defenders on a deep route over the middle, and he hauled in the first touchdown pass of Jackson's career.
It's in the stock down section, but Indiana clearly has some weaknesses on designed run plays. Jackson is not the fastest quarterback in the world, and the improved offensive line still struggles moving bigger defenders on the interior.
But it was great to see that even a stagnant run game won't stop No. 12 from getting the ball each Saturday.
Special Teams
This is solely due to the onside kick that should have been the most memorable play from this game.
Indiana fans have every right to be furious at their team's coaches, but Allen and special teams coordinator Kasey Teegardin deserve props for this call.
Three plays later, and Indiana was on the scoreboard. It would have been so easy to have just trudged to a blowout defeat, but this play alone saved the Hoosiers and gave them life in this game.
Not to mention, it was one heck of an onside kick from Chris Freeman. You can't bounce the football any better than that. Louis Moore also deserves credit for catching the recovery. The safety said after the game that he has the best hands on the team, and that's why he comes out there when an onside kick recovery is needed.
James Evans didn't repeat the legendary punting performance he put forth against Ohio State, and there were no IU field goals attempted, but the onside kick was perfect enough to warrant a spot on this list.
Stock Down
Walt Bell
There are no excuses, man. This can't be the play call when you're 18 inches away from the goal line on fourth down with the game on the line. Not to mention, you just burned your second timeout to draw up this disaster:
Running back Josh Henderson is lined up a whole eight yards back from the goal line. By the time Jackson handed him the ball at the four-yard line, a whole second had already ticked off the clock, and the entire right side of the line had been caved in.
Yes, Indiana could have blocked it better, but why are you asking your linemen to try and hold blocks that difficult against an all-out goal line blitz for that long? How do you come out of the timeout thinking that play had any chance of working?
Coach Allen can say that people would have been mad if a QB sneak was called and that didn't work. But I think that's wrong. If Indiana can't push Jackson into the end zone from less than one yard away, fans would not be mad at the coaches. They would be disappointed in the players for not executing football's most surefire short-yardage play.
Instead, Bell dialed up the worst play call imaginable — a slow developing run that immediately moved the ball four yards back away from the goal line. It was just such a lack in understanding of what needed to be done on that play.
Fans overreact to one play far too often. Each loss contains more than one play where blame can be assigned, and it's unfair to hyper-focus on one bad moment.
But this is one of those rare times where the loudest and angriest fans are correct. Most of Indiana's loss to Louisville can be blamed on Bell and his play calling.
The Offensive Line
Though the right side of the line did get caved in on that fourth-and-goal, this is a stock down more due to the overall rushing numbers on the day. Again, 2.7 yards per carry without the 13-yard loss from Jackson, and that 13-yard loss happened because center Zach Carpenter snapped the ball at Jackson's feet.
It has to be noted, this group does look much better under Bob Bostad than it did under Darren Hiller. The pass blocking has taken a massive jump from 2022, as Jackson is not under constant duress on every drop back.
But if Indiana wants to go from an inconsistent offense that occasionally comes to life, to a consistently great offense, the offensive line needs to start creating lanes for Lucas, Henderson and Christian Turner to run through.
Indiana, Tom Allen in Close Games
This team looks much improved. At quarterback, wide receiver, defensive line — you name it, and the Hoosiers have gotten better at that spot in 2023.
And still, Indiana lost on Saturday because it came out of the gate unprepared, dug itself a hole, and even when it had finally climbed out of said hole, it was just false hope. If felt like a classic Indiana football loss. One where IU's disadvantages show up early, the team rallies and almost wins the game, but then loses it all on one back-breaking play. And it hurts even more when the back gets broken by your own coaching staff.
From Nebraska to Maryland, to Rutgers and to Purdue, 2022 Indiana lost several games where a win briefly felt possible. In its first close game of the 2023 season, Allen's Hoosiers fell in remarkably similar fashion.
Related Stories on Indiana Football:
- PLAY CALLING WASTED TAYVEN JACKSON'S PERFORMANCE: Indiana had an incredible second half against Louisville, and almost won the game thanks to a great game from quarterback Tayven Jackson, but were doomed by a slow start and a terrible play call on fourth-and-goal. CLICK HERE
- GAME STORY, IU LOSES 21-14: Indiana's furious second half comeback fell short on Saturday, as the Hoosiers couldn't fully overcome a 21-0 halftime deficit against the Louisville Cardinals. CLICK HERE
- WHAT TOM ALLEN SAID: The Indiana Hoosiers dropped to 1-2 on Saturday following a 21-14 loss to Louisville inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. After the game, coach Tom Allen spoke to media about the defeat. CLICK HERE
- WHAT TAYVEN JACKSON SAID: The Indiana quarterback spoke to media after his first game as the full-time starter, which ended in a 21-14 loss to Louisville for the Hoosiers. CLICK HERE
