Indiana Football: 3 takeaways from victory against Maryland in Week 13

Indiana football won an at-times sloppy win against Maryland in Bloomington this afternoon. What did we learn from this victory?

One way to tell how mature a football team is how they respond to a difficult loss. The ever-scrappy Indiana Hoosiers did not play their best game, but found a way to battle the Ohio State Buckeyes last week. This week, the Hoosiers bounced back from the loss with a 27-11 win against the Maryland Terrapins.  It was quite the sloppy affair early on with Indiana making the necessary adjustments pulling away in the second half of the game.

Taulia Tagovailoa was under pressure and confused by the Hoosiers 4-2-5 defense most of the game completing under 50 percent of his passes and three interceptions. Tagovailoa’s counterpart, Michael Penix Jr., had his struggles completing just six passes before going out for an injury. His replacement, Utah transfer Jack Tuttle performed admirably in relief of Penix completing all the passes he threw.

The Hoosiers were carried by the running game today racking up 238 yards rushing, twice as many passing yards. Today was a game that was carried by the Hoosier’s defense. Indiana allowed just 59 yards rushing and generated three turnovers. Most importantly, the Hoosiers did not allow Maryland to move the ball with any consistency the entire game and gave their offense a chance to finally get going.

The win moves Indiana to 5-1 on the year rebounding from their tough loss to Ohio State while the Terrapins fall to 2-2 on the season. Here are three takeaways from today’s game.