Indiana football vs. Cincinnati: Reaction to Hoosiers disappointing loss

On Saturday, Cincinnati dominated the first half against Indiana football on its way to its 29th consecutive home victory. The Hoosiers never quit on this game, despite trailing 38-10 at the end of the first half.

While this game was very disappointing and discouraging for Hoosier Nation and the Indiana football program, it showed what the Hoosiers can do with their backs against the wall. Tom Allen said it best in his interview on The Jim Rome Show before the matchup against the Bearcats, “there’s a toughness to them (Indiana players), there’s a belief to them, and they just got tremendous perseverance and fight, so I love that about them, but we gotta keep getting better, without question”.

There are very few positives to take away from a blowout loss like this, but two highlights in my eye are the talent from Connor Bazelak and Cam Camper. Bazelak finished the game 31-for-66 on pass attempts, 280 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. It was far from a flawless performance, but his courage to show up in the second half after getting hit time-and-time again due to this below-average offensive line protection shows what he can become as we progress this season.

Camper, on the other hand, was getting anything and everything thrown his way, and he brought in most of his targets. The junior college transfer had 10 receptions for 126 receiving yards and was the clear favorite target for Bazelak, especially because D.J. Matthews Jr. went down early in the contest.

The two biggest problems for this Indiana football program are offensive line protection and the performance of the experienced secondary on defense. The offensive line allowed Bazelak to get sacked 5.0 times and let the Bearcats defense hit or hurry the quarterback 12 times. If I were in Bazelak’s position, I don’t know how I would’ve been able to drop back 66 (!!) times in a single game with that type of protection. Looking at the defensive secondary, I’m at a loss for words. How does a secondary with four upperclassmen (three seniors), including Tiawan Mullen, give up a 75-yard easy touchdown pass and two 30+ yard touchdown passes? Something needs to change.

Indiana football has a somewhat easier opponent this upcoming week, facing off against a Nebraska football program that has already changed coaches and has lost three of their first four games, including an embarrassing loss to Georgia Southern in Week 3. Can the Hoosiers rebound from this disappointing loss in Week 4?