Indiana Turns ‘Awesome’ in Charleston Southern shutout

Saturday, October 7

Bloomington, Ind.

3:30 p.m.

Indiana University

3-2

Charleston Southern

2-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Charleston Southern

Indiana

Indiana Turns ‘Awesome’ in Charleston Southern shutout

10/7/2017 7:01:00 PM | Football

By: Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The shutout mattered.

For these Indiana Hoosiers, you better believe it did.

"It's awesome," defensive end Jacob Robinson said.

Awesome, in this case, was Saturday's 27-0 victory over Charleston Southern. The Hoosiers (3-2) squeezed the life out of the Bucs' run-dominant offense in ways that haven't been seen in a generation.

"The shutout was our No. 1 goal," Robinson said. "We'd talked a lot this week about dominating. That was our word -- dominate."

Mission accomplished.

Charleston Southern (2-3) never came close to scoring. It only got into IU territory four times. The closest it came to the end zone was the Hoosier 31-yard line, and that was in the fourth quarter.

Beyond that, the Bucs totaled just 134 yards, all by the run. They punted 12 times.

Yes, Charleston Southern reminds no one of, say, No. 7 Michigan, which comes to Memorial Stadium next Saturday. It is a FCS program not close to IU's talent level.

Still, IU has had a history of not playing to its potential against struggling teams. Coach Tom Allen is determined to change that. He's driven to do it, in fact.

He's a defensive coach first who yearns for zeros by opponents' names.

It doesn't happen often, so when it did Saturday night -- the Bucs had zero points, zero passing yards and zero completions -- Allen let the Hoosiers know how big it was.

"Every win is a big win," he said. "You don't take anything for granted.

"Anytime you can shut somebody out, I don't care who they are, it's not easy to do. It's a big deal."

The last time IU had a shutout was in 1993, when it blanked Michigan State 10-0.

This was the seventh time the Hoosiers have held a team without a completion (the Bucs were 0-for-10), but it was not a school record for fewest passing yards. Purdue had minus-two yards against IU in 1945, the year the Hoosiers won the Big Ten title.

For a program that was a defensive disaster until Allen showed up last season, this is big time.

"(A shutout) is big for the program and our defense," defensive lineman Mike Barwick said. "We're on the up and up."

Then there was quarterback Peyton Ramsey, who showed he was more than ready for his first college start. He was 32-for-41 for 321 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 54 yards and recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.

For comparison, Ramsey had thrown for 316 yards in the four previous games as senior Richard Lagow's backup.

Credit much of that to offensive coordinator Mike DeBord, who tweaked the offense to maximize Ramsey's dual-threat ability. That included allowing him to throw from outside the pocket and mixing short passes and slants.

"I've played in the last four games, so it wasn't new to be out there," Ramsey said, "but it was a huge confidence boost to get a win."

This was exactly what Allen hoped for after naming him the starter last Sunday night.

"I wanted him to have the whole week to deal with that, talk to the media, and prepare accordingly," Allen said. "To not come off the bench like he'd done. I thought that was important.

"He seemed very calm. He ran things. He protected the ball. To get this game under his belt and go back to Big Ten play was really important."

A big target was freshman receiver Taysir Mack, who caught seven passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. He's the first Cream 'n Crimson freshman to break 100 yards since Tandon Doss in 2008.

Mack credited all the off-season work he and Ramsey put in for the performance.

"It was hours and hours of running routes and working on timing," Mack said. "We talked about it when we got here – what we were capable of, that we just needed to be patient and wait for our opportunity. When our time came, we performed."

Added Allen: "(Mack) is one of our fastest players. I'm really encouraged by his progress. He's a player I identified through fall camp.

"He wasn't consistent when we started playing. Then he got a chance to play because of some injuries."

Mack stepping up reflects the overall program development Allen seeks.

"My thing is this – we want to build a team that plays to the strength of our team, and that's from a defensive perspective, special teams perspective and the offense. All three working together to win games.

"When you play great defense and you're good on special teams, then you want to control the ball from a tempo perspective, whether you need to go fast, slow, whatever you need to do to win."

Indiana faced FCS Charleston Southern during fall break because Hurricane Irma messed up its bye plan. The storm forced the cancelation of the Sept. 16 game against Florida International, and athletic director Fred Glass quickly delivered a game perfect for building depth and experience if the Hoosiers were mature enough to capitalize.

They were.

"It takes a lot of work to win," Allen said. "This was a team we were supposed to beat, and we did. We realize what we have and get ready for the Wolverines."