GRAHAM NOTEBOOK: Rutgers Week

By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana's host Hoosiers, after an arduous and often frustrating evening, had fought back to within a single score of No. 24-ranked Michigan State.

Logan Justus' second field goal of the fourth quarter – sandwiched around a 65-yard TD bomb from IU's Peyton Ramsey to Whop Philyor (with a two-point conversion) – had cut a three-touchdown deficit to just 28-21 with 3:28 remaining.

And the Hoosiers retained all three of their timeouts.

So Hoosier head coach Tom Allen had Jared Smolar send the kickoff deep for a touchback, with reasonable hope an IU defense stout against the run all night would force a Spartan punt with enough time remaining to give the offense a chance.

When MSU lined up to scrimmage from its 25 after the kickoff, Allen called for a defensive set designed to help stuff the run everybody figured was coming.

But the set call didn't register quickly enough with a defender, third-string at his now-designated position when the night began and on the field at that critical juncture due to injuries.

"I wasn't in on that play, but I know the play call," fifth-year senior defensive end Nile Sykes recalled Monday. "I was standing right next to Coach when he made it. We just got lined up wrong.

"(A guy was) on the wrong side. So when the ball was snapped, we actually had our defensive end and Bull on the same side, which isn't how it's supposed to go. So we had trouble lining up and I guess they just exploited that."

At the snap, Indiana had all 11 defenders within five yards of the line of scrimmage, and they were misaligned.

MSU freshman wideout Jalen Nailor – who won four sprint events to help Bishop Gorman win its first ever Nevada state track title last spring – took a jet-sweep-left handoff and turned the corner unmolested.

Result? Predictably, disaster.

IU standout senior safety Jonathan Crawford gave chase from across the field but had no realistic angle of pursuit. Nailor was long gone for a clinching 75-yard TD sprint.

"Yeah, it was a MA, missed assignment," Crawford said. "Somebody just didn't get over fast enough. Somebody went down (with an injury) and a new guy came in, in a different spot, and didn't really know the whole aspect of that part of the defense, in that call. So that's what happened."

And it over-shadowed what was, much of the evening, an acceptable performance by the young Hoosier defense.

IU posted four takeaways, had three sacks among nine tackles for loss, limited MSU to just 2-of-13 third-down conversions and – even with the cheap 75 yards tacked on at the end, limited the Spartans to just 3.3 yards per rush for the game.

"Today, when we had our meeting, we always have our seven goals which we think are big keys for the defense playing a good game," Sykes said. "And we checked a lot of those boxes off on our goal sheet.

"I think it just comes down to finishing the game. Because with three minutes to go, no matter how the game had gone or how we'd played, the fact was, with three minutes to go, we were only down seven. Before we let that big 75-yard touchdown (happen), we had a chance. We've just got to finish games."

Sykes had his hand in one of the four takeaways – his pressure on MSU quarterback Brian Lewerke was catalytic to Khalil Bryant's interception at 0:39 of the third quarter.

And Sykes posted his first sack of the season for a whopping minus-19 yards to derail MSU's third series of the game. And he did so despite being held on the play.

"I was fortunate enough to beat the tackle, get back there and was able to finish the play," Sykes said. "So it was nice to finally get back in the backfield. I should be doing that consistently.

"I kind of came up and under him and he was trying to hold me back. They actually threw the flag, too, but we ended up declining it."

The Hoosier defense, however, couldn't stop Lewerke through the air on a crucial final series of the first half, then allowed the 75-yard TD run at crunch time.

"Defensively, did a lot of good things throughout the game, but didn't finish out the half, didn't finish out the game there and gave up that long run," Allen said. "Held them to 56 yards rushing up to that point and then gave them a 75-yarder … so disappointed in that, obviously."

Yes, that jet-sweep still stung Monday.

"Yeah, things were looking up (before that play)," Sykes said. "Honestly, Coach Allen had just told us he wanted the game in our hands. So that was our mindset. Then just one mistake. You know what I mean? Little things like that can change a whole game."

Crawford noted Allen liked how the Hoosiers rallied in the face of the three-TD deficit, but that "finish" remains the team's motto this year and that wasn't realized Saturday.

"He liked that we didn't give up," Crawford said. "We kept fighting. That was the main thing. But it was just that we have to keep our composure. As a defense, we didn't finish, and he emphasized that. Just being able to execute, offense and defense.

"Defense, we made the plays (during much of the game), offense didn't execute … then the offense did their job at the end and we didn't do ours. The defense did a lot of good things but, in the end, it doesn't matter because we didn't finish."

And that 75-yarder served as a lesson. Even third-stringers at any given position have to stay ready.

BOUNCING BALL

It wasn't just injury that deprived IU of key defenders toward the end of the game.

Redshirt sphomore Husky back Marcelino Ball was doing his considerable things for the Indiana defense during the third quarter Saturday, but couldn't escape experiencing a bad bounce – then getting bounced from the game.

Ball's sacked Lewerke for the second time in the game with 11:25 left in the third, popping the ball into the air.

But unlike an earlier tipped ball that turned into a pick-6 for the Spartans, this time the ball went right into the lap of MSU guard Matt Allen, so the Spartans crucially maintained possession.

And just over four minutes later, Ball was ejected for a targeting as he stopped a sliding Lewerke on a scramble. There was no helmet-to-helmet contact, but the current rule doesn't allow leading with the crown of the helmet while tackling.

"That's something Coach Allen actually preached on this morning," Crawford said about not leading with the helmet. "It's a learning experience. It's still early in the season. We'll learn from it and be better for it.

"It's very hard (to tackle a scrambling quarterback legally). Initially, we can't go high, anyway. So our target is already low. Then when they slide, they're sliding right into our shoulder or head. It's just a tough situation."

Allen indeed saw it as both a tough break for his team and for Ball, who by rule now has to sit out the first half of the upcoming game at Rutgers, but also as a teachable moment.

"It's really challenging, and I'm trying to be real with them … that it's a tough position to be put in," Allen said of the targeting rule and its implications. "I get it. And I want (the rules) to protect the quarterbacks. I understand that completely and fully.

"Guys run at you full speed and (Lewerke is) a big ol' guy – he's got the ability to run you over, he's shown he can do that on film – and then, last minute, he slides. So it's hard to just completely avoid him.

"So there are two things. Number one, we say never lead with your head, ever … if you put your head down, you put yourself in position to be called for that (targeting). And number two, you've got to understand it's a quarterback. It's a different position. They're going to treat that guy different, and when he slides, he's to be protected, and he should be."

It was the first targeting ejection Allen has experienced his arrival at IU as defensive coordinator in 2016 and he'll doing his best to avoid a recurrence, but he knows it's a difficult demand of his defenders.

"We talk about lowering our target for where we hit (ball-carriers) to avoid these types of situations, but when it's a quarterback sliding, man, it's tough," Allen said. "We had the same thing happen with our quarterback (Saturday), and it wasn't called.

"That was my biggest challenge, with that whole comparison. I want that position protected, but I also want it called equally the same on both sides. (And) I just hate you get kicked out of a game for it, but that's part of the rule."

Ball made a point to issue a quick apology to Lewerke after the play, and Allen also admired how Ball comported himself afterward.

"I thought Marcelino handled it like a man," Allen said of the incident and resulting ejection. "He was torn because he thought he let his team down by not being in there.

"But he realized, he said, 'Coach, I understand, and I'll make sure I get these other guys ready for next week first half, and I'll be ready to go in the second half.' It was just a teachable moment for our whole team on how you handle those kind of situations on the field."

SOME INJURY UPDATES

The man who replaced Ball after Saturday's ejection was Ball's backup since the season started, true freshman Cam Jones, but Jones himself exited with an undisclosed injury after making his first career interception on a leaping dive with 10:47 to play.

Redshirt freshman Bryant Fitzgerald, who has played a lot of snaps as a back-up safety so far this campaign, finished at Husky for the duration Saturday.

Allen said Jones will be among the "game-time decisions" for availability at Rutgers.

"Definitely do not know right now if he'll be available," Allen said of Jones. "One encouraging thing in that position is we have several guys that we feel have the ability to do a great job there (at Husky) – was not that way in the past. The guys there will do some good work with the younger guys and get them ready to go to be able to play at that position.

"Fitz(gerald) is a guy that played that position in the spring, and I think he's a very natural guy there, so he'll be getting a lot of reps. And then (true freshman) Jamar Johnson, as well, is a young man that I feel has the skill set. (He) can play all five spots in our secondary. So those will be the top two guys working that position outside of Cam, as he works to get back, and then Marcelino will be not available until the second half."

The Hoosier defense also missed stalwart senior tackle Jacob Robinson, who did not dress for play Saturday. "He's a week-to-week situation right now," Allen said of Robinson. "Don't know what his status will be, for sure this week, but (he's an) important guy for us and want to get him back as soon as possible."

Another senior unable to play Saturday was wideout Luke Timian, who will be a "game-time decision" at Rutgers. Fellow wideout Whop Philyor supplied career-highs with 13 catches for 148 yards against Michigan State but finished injured.

"Whop was hobbled a bit as you could tell, but he's a tough nut and fought through it, so hopefully we'll continue to get him better," Allen said. "But he made plays and had to kind of keep him going back out there. Getting some treatment and getting squared away. But he wanted to stay in there."

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

Philyor earned IU's Offensive Player of the Game honors. Crawford, who led the Hoosiers with eight tackles (all solo) and recovered a fumble forced by Jones, took the Defensive award and Justus did the same for Special Teams.

Defensive Scout players cited were linebacker Samuel Slusher and defensive end Jonathan King.

"Jonathan has really continued to develop and grow," Allen said. "Sam continues to give us tremendous effort in all that he does and helps our team get better."

Offensive Scouts of the week were tackle Aidan Rafferty and wideouts David Felton and Justin Berry.

"Really appreciate all the work that they do making us better every day and letting us be prepared," Allen said. "And Owen Strieter is our (special) teams player of the week (for the Scouts.)"

NOT FAKED OUT

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio is renowned for trick plays, and his Spartans pulled off a fake field goal to score a critical third-quarter touchdown Saturday.

The upshot, Allen revealed, is that the Hoosiers knew it was coming.

"The thing that really is frustrating is we called a (defensive) call for that purpose," Allen said Monday. "We thought they were going to fake it. And so (we) didn't execute. That's really -- that gets you. If you get caught off guard, hey, they got us, but they didn't, because we studied them.

"As a matter of fact, we had extra time we spent in our meetings the day of because they had had a history of doing that in other games and even years in the past. We'd go back and show video clips of several years ago. They did one against Notre Dame in overtime; showed that exact clip. Anyways, so we made a call for that purpose and didn't execute it. So that's really frustrating. But they did, and that's why they won the game. Give them credit where credit is due."

NOT REPEATING HISTORY

Allen is aware host Rutgers enters Saturday's noon kickoff just 1-3 on the season. But he is also aware that the Hoosiers barely escaped Piscataway with a 33-27 win their last visit, in 2016, and saw Rutgers rally for a 55-52 win in Bloomington the year before that.

"Rutgers (is) a Big Ten Conference game that we know is very important to us and to our program," Allen said. "Road games in the Big Ten are always huge for us. And (we want) to be able to focus on improving as a football team, addressing our areas as we have to address them, and keep getting better every time we take the field.

"They have a really talented young quarterback that as a true freshman (Artur Sitkowski) … can really throw it and does all the things that you want in regards to a guy at that position. Talented running backs. I know they haven't played the way that they want to, but the bottom line is that we will have to be prepared for a tough battle.

"We went there two years ago, my first year here, and were not sharp, and that is a vivid memory in my mind of how we played in that game as a team … it's going to be a very important opportunity for us to be at our very, very best."

Players Mentioned

Justin Berry

Khalil Bryant

Jonathan Crawford

Bryant Fitzgerald

Jamar Johnson

Cam Jones

Logan Justus

Jonathan King

Marcelino McCrary-Ball

Whop Philyor

Aidan Rafferty

Peyton Ramsey

Jacob Robinson

Samuel Slusher

Jared Smolar

Owen Strieter

Nile Sykes

Luke Timian

Indiana University Athletics