by

2018 Season Rewind: Indiana

2018 Predictions

Where I Went Right

I said it was risky to pick Indiana to go to a bowl with their unknowns running the ball, along the OL, and the defense.  Two of those were right as Peyton Ramsey was tied with fellow Big Ten quarterback Trace McSorley being sacked 27 times, that is a tie for 27th nationally and only one Big Ten signal caller (Clayton Thorson, Northwestern) was hauled down more.  Defensively IU finished 88th in yards per game, not nearly good enough to make a bowl.

Where I Went Wrong

Obviously picking Indiana to get to a bowl.  The reason this went awry was Indiana’s lack of success in manageable games.  In season order: Michigan State, Iowa, at Minnesota, and Purdue were all challenges but winnable, especially with three at home, yet Indiana went 0-4 in those games.  I also went wrong with Indiana’s running back situation.  It was a mess in 2017 without a 1,000 yard back and seemed to be heading that way again but Stevie Scott had a fantastic freshman campaign with over 1,100 yards and ten scores.

Season-Defining Moment

2018 was all close but no cigar for the Hoosiers.  Their October 20th match-up with Penn State was unusually cruel.  Indiana scores a third quarter touchdown to go up 21-20 but PSU takes the ensuing kick off 94 yards, setting up first and goal at the five.  Next play the lead is gone.  Penn State pushes their lead to 33-21, it’s all over, right?  Well, Indiana puts together a drive, makes it 33-28 with under a minute to go and then they recover the onside kick!  That never, ever happens!  Of course their ensuing drive goes nowhere and Penn State holds on to win.  The loss was the third in a four game skid that pushed IU to 4-5 (1-5).

MVP

Stevie Scott, RB – The freshman had 1,137 rushing yards.  As a team Indiana had 1,888.  That means the kid had 60% of IU’s rushing yards.  The second leading rusher was the quarterback with just 354 yards.  I’m not sure the Hoosiers were ever truly balanced last year, but without Scott’s efforts, the running game would have been a total mess.

  • Honorable Mention: Jonathan Crawford, S – Overall the defense had plenty of issues a season ago but individually Crawford excelled.  He led the team in tackles, both solo (47) and total (67).  He also had a sack, defended three passes, picked one off – which he then returned for a touchdown, forced a fumble, and recovered two fumbles.  Now that is doing some work.

Leave a comment