Report Card: Hard to Find Any Positives After Indiana's 34-6 Blowout Loss at Iowa

Indiana came into the 2021 season with high expectations, even talking about contending for a Big Ten title. But they were a complete no-show in the season opener, losing 34-6 to Iowa in an embarrassing display of football. Their grades reflect it in our first report card of the year.

Tom Brew | Sep 5, 2021

IOWA CITY, Iowa – It's not an "Aminal House'' John Blutarsky report, not "Zero point Zero.'' But is really hard to find anything good to say about Indiana's 34-6 loss to Iowa on Saturday. There were problems in all three phases, and the mistakes made by the players – and there were a lot of them – have to fall on the feet of Indiana's coaching staff as well.

It was that bad.

I will pump the brakes a bit, because No. 17-ranked Indiana lost to an Iowa team that has now won seven straight Big Ten games and is 4-0 in its last four games against ranked teams. They knocked off a very good team at Kinnick Stadium just about every year, including three top-8 teams in the last six years. They were favored for a reason, and it showed.

Winning at Kinnick isn't easy, but how Indiana lost was brutally deflating because they didn't compete right from the first whistle. In just the first two-plus minutes of the game, there were huge errors in all three phases, and it never really got any better.

But, as I said in my postgame column, it is just one game and doesn't define the entire season one bit. But it still hurt watching the beatdown live from the press box at Kinnick. And I have no choice but to be pretty harsh with these grades.

It was that bad, so much so that it's really stressing my usual glass-half-full attitude. Throw in the fact that Indiana was the only Big Ten East team to lose this weekend, and it concerns me even more.

Here’s how the Hoosiers graded out in my ninth Report Card of the season:

Passing offense: D-minus

The quarterback, much like the starting pitcher in a baseball game, is the one individual that gets tagged with a loss. No one says the right guard or outside linebacker is 0-1. But Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is 0-1 after this game, and he owns that. He didn't play well, and he knows it.

Penix threw three interceptions for the first time in his career at Indiana. He had only eight interceptions in 414 career attempts. He was, as Indiana coach Tom Allen said, ''out of sync,'' and there were timing issues with several of his receivers. Penix was 14-of-31 passing for just 156 yards.

There were some nice completions for big games to Ty Fryfogle, who had five catches for 84 yards. That bond is still there. It's still a work in progress with transfer receivers D.J. Matthews (Florida State) and Camron Buckley (Texas A&M). Matthews slipped out of his break on the first interception, and the ball went off his hands and up in the air, where Iowa defensive back Riley Moss grabbed it and scored on a pick-six. Buckley stopped on a route for the other pick-six. It's all stuff that needs to get fixed – and fixed quickly.

Rushing offense: C-minus

I'm being a bit generous with this grade probably, because Indiana, which was stressing all fall that they needed to be a better running team, finished with just 77 yards on 31 carries.

But I liked what I saw from USC transfer Stephen Carr, who runs hard and was able to shed a few tackles on a nice 14-yard run. Falling into a 14-0 hole so early took Indiana out of its game plan a bit, so I'll hold off on too much criticism. The offensive line opened a few holes, but there were too many penalties that killed drives. That affected the lower grade more than anything. The running game has to get better for sure, and I'm hoping Tim Baldwin Jr. contributes a bit more. He has six carries Saturday, but gained only 12 yards.

Pass defense: B-minus

Indiana did a pretty good job of keeping Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras in check. He was just 13-for-27 passing (48 percent) for only 145 yards. Granted, with an early lead, Petras didn't have to force things, and he played a smart game, but the Hoosiers didn't give him much either.

Indiana defensive end Ryder Anderson had a good game. He had one of Indiana's two sacks – Reece Taylor had the other on a corner blitz – plus a tackle-for-loss and seven tackles overall. Indiana's cornerbacks were active defensively, and Tiawan Mullen did a nice job of taking Iowa's wide receivers out of the game. No turnovers though, and that would have helped with the offense struggling so much. They'll come.

Rush defense: C-plus

Maybe it's not fair to drop a full grade for one blown play, but the fact is that 56-yard touchdown run by Iowa running back Tyler Goodson on the fourth play of the game was a back-breaker. The entire left side of Indiana's defense made gap blunders on that play, and he went untouched into the end zone. That just can't happen, especially on the first drive of the game.

After that play, though, Indiana kept him in check. Goodson had only 39 yards on 17 carries after that score, a 2.3-yard average. It would have normally been enough to get a good grade, especially with two forced fumbles by Cam Jones and Raheem Layne.

Special teams: C

Indiana allowed a 33-yard kickoff return on the opening kickoff and freshman punter James Evans struggled on his first three punts in his first-ever football game. Those things affected the grade.

Kicker Charles Campbell was steady, making both field goal attempts – from 36 and 41 yards – providing the Hoosiers' only points. And give credit to Evans, who turned things around during the game. His four punts in the second half were for 58, 57, 48 and 40 yards. Probably a touch harsh on this grade, but we'll let it stand.

Coaching: F

I'm on record as being a huge fan of Indiana coach Tom Allen, and I think he has a terrific coaching staff. But there's no getting around giving them a failing grade for this horrible performance, especially considering all the expectations that came with it all summer long. It was a massive disappointment.

The worst indictment you can give a coaching staff is that their opponent seemed far better prepared for this game, and that was certainly true. Iowa did what it wanted, and forced the issue on Indiana all day. It was distressing that Indiana didn't have an answer. An F is harsh, I know, but I just can't put my finger on anything to would have raised it, even just a notch or two.

Intangibles: F

There's an F here too, because the biggest intangible in sports is dealing with expectations. Indiana failed miserably there, all of them. You simply can't have "What Have You Done to Win The Big Ten Today?'' signs all over your facility and then completely lay an egg in the opener, barely competing against a team you consider your equal.

It's one thing to lose a close game on the road, or lose on something fluky, but what's clear from all the grades above is that Indiana was sounded beaten in every single phase of the game. And it wasn't even close. Maybe they felt their own hype and just showed up thinking they'd win just by being there. They got punched in the face though, over and over. Lessons learned, we hope. And we'll see how quickly they can bounce back in the next two weeks.