Six trips inside the Old Dominion 10-yard line, just two touchdowns. That was Indiana’s final tally from Saturday’s opener against ODU, with red zone woes establishing themselves at the forefront of IU’s struggles seen throughout the game. It was obvious Indiana needed to be better when it got close to the end zone and it […]
Six trips inside the Old Dominion 10-yard line, just two touchdowns.
That was Indiana’s final tally from Saturday’s opener against ODU, with red zone woes establishing themselves at the forefront of IU’s struggles seen throughout the game. It was obvious Indiana needed to be better when it got close to the end zone and it simply wasn’t, resulting in displeasure from both Curt Cignetti and his players.
The fans didn’t seem pleased either, as a nearly sold-out crowd dwindled down to pre-Cignetti levels by the second half. A lot went wrong in Indiana’s Week 1 win against the Monarchs, but I’d hesitate to put any issue above what was seen when Indiana needed to execute red zone plays.
How it Happened: Indiana defeats ODU 27-14 despite ugly performance
“We had a number of missed opportunities offensively,” Cignetti said postgame, putting the lack of execution in the red zone simply.
He went on to elaborate by saying: “We just have to execute a little better. When you have opportunities to score touchdowns, you’ve got to score them.”
The Hoosiers walked out of Memorial Stadium with a win, but Cignetti would tell you that if they played a Big Ten opponent instead of a Sun Belt foe, the red zone performance would’ve doomed Indiana.
Several factors went into it, but Cignetti mentioned that “Maybe it wasn’t a very good plan. We do it on Thursdays and it was the low red and goal line. And I was really concerned about it leading up to the kickoff.”
It was apparent that the coaching staff and the offense weren’t on the same page when it came to goal-line plays, as the constant runs up the middle weren’t working and they didn’t have another answer. On Indiana’s first offensive drive of the game, it ran three straight times from the ODU 1-yard line and couldn’t punch it in. On fourth down, Fernando Mendoza tried to roll out and pass, but that failed too and resulted in a brutal turnover on downs.
“We got to finish and I think that’s just an accountability part for myself and I think the whole offense if they were all staying right here would all take accountability for that. I mean, that’s unacceptable ‘cause we had a fantastic drive where we just, you know, went right down and went right down to the 1-yard line. We got to punch those in,” Mendoza said following the win.
Mendoza and the rest of the offense understand that this was an extremely poor showing, as anytime you have first and goal from the 1, a touchdown is expected. One drive is just one drive though, as football is all about adjustments, yet Indiana didn’t seem to adjust after this one.
In the second quarter, Indiana was within striking distance once again, as it had a first and goal from the ODU 9-yard line. After a Roman Hemby rush to the 2, IU was set up perfectly to punch it in for the TD. Unfortunately, the Hoosiers were met with a goal-line stand once more, as rushes up the middle went nowhere on both second and third down. This time, Cignetti elected to kick and sent on the field goal unit for an extremely short-range field goal by Nicolas Radicic.
“It was just some execution errors on everybody. You know, we want to be better as an offense and, you know, the first game is always a little tricky, but we’ll get back to the drawing board, watch the film, and get it cleaned up,” Hemby mentioned.
Players Q&A: Indiana players react to Indiana’s Week 1 win against Old Dominion
While he and the rest of the running backs put on an impressive performance otherwise, they couldn’t quite figure out how to get in the end zone from less than 2 yards away. It’s something that’s extremely concerning, but at least Indiana figured out an alternative on its next red zone trip.
After a Louis Moore interception set the Hoosiers up beautifully, Mendoza executed an option play swiftly and ran 5 yards for his first touchdown as a Hoosier. This was a nice adjustment from the previous approach, and more importantly, it worked in Indiana’s favor.
“Sometimes you got to, you know, get a little gritty and throw yourself to get it in. And whatever, you know, I can do to help us win, get touchdowns to be an efficient offense, I’m going to do,” Mendoza said on the score.
Indiana kept up its success on its first red zone trip of the second half, as Kaelon Black rushed two yards to finally punch in a score as a running back. It took four tries, but it seemed like the Hoosiers’ rushers may have finally figured it out.
Despite that, the next time IU got within the ODU 10, it was Mendoza who wouldn’t execute in the way he wanted to. He misfired on a second-and-5 pass attempt to Elijah Sarratt, which was followed by a Hemby rush that was stopped short of the goal line. In this instance, IU elected to kick once more, and another trip near the end zone didn’t result in a touchdown.
The last and final trip near the goal line for Indiana was even worse, as it had a third-and-2 and fourth-and-2 from the ODU 8-yard line, but failed to reach the line to gain each time. One pass and one rush were denied by the Monarchs, finishing off Indiana’s red zone trips with zero points on the final attempt.
In the end, the Hoosiers were victorious, but it wasn’t due to execution inside the 10-yard line. Indiana will surely take a win, but it was lucky this type of performance didn’t happen against a more formidable opponent. Curt Cignetti and the rest of the Hoosiers understand this, and he made sure to verbalize it after the game.
“From that standpoint, you know, we have to get better, got to get better.”
Not yet a member of TheHoosier? Join our community for Just $1 for your first week and get a complimentary year of The Athletic included with your membership. Join here!
Use the code “IND20” on Rhoback.com for a generous 20% off for all new customers through the end of this week. Rhoback — Best Fit, Best Feel.
Category: General Sports
