Indiana dropped another game last weekend, this time to University of Maryland.
The Hoosiers kept the game closer than last week. The team showed some fight keeping the game close after being down fourteen points at the start, but ultimately came up short again. Donovan McCulley earned his first career start after Michael Penix Jr and Jack Tuttle suffered injuries recently. Ultimately, his play was solid for a true freshman with very little playing time prior to this game. McCulley took awhile to gain momentum with Indiana, only scoring ten points in the first half. Running back Stephen Carr also had one of his best games of the season with over 130 yards and two touchdowns.
McCulley’s arm performed well and he had over 240 yards passing. However, the offense really appeared to stall on read options and designed runs for McCulley. On eleven carries, he garnered a measly 4 yards, but did produce a run for 14 yards. If you are performing your own calculations at home, the math adds up this way due to sacks on the quarterback reducing yardage from his total.
Unfortunately, Indiana did not perform as well on defense as they have been throughout the season. They allowed 38 points, tied with Cincinnati for the 2nd most given up this year (behind Ohio State.) Ohio State and Cincinnati are much higher caliber teams than Maryland, however, and are ranked five & six in the new ranking by the College Football Playoff committee.
The Hoosiers travel to Ann Arbor this weekend to take on the #7 Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines are having one of their best seasons since 2018 and are 7–1. Indiana continues to search for this first in conference win. Hopefully, they look no farther than Ann Arbor.
Notable Stat Lines:
Donovan McCulley (QB) – 14/25, 242 yds, 2 TD
Stephen Carr (RB) – 21 carries, 136 yds, 6.5 yds per carry, 2 TD
Peyton Hendershot (TE) – 6 receptions, 106 yds, 2 TD
Devon Matthews (DB) – 12 TOT, 10 solo, 1 TFL
Micah McFadden (LB) – 8 TOT, 5 solo, 1 sacks, 2 TFL
