3 reasons IU football lost to Maryland: Bad teams lose games these ways
BLOOMINGTON – Its last rally too late, IU fell 38-33 to Maryland on Saturday in a game that likely silences their bowl hopes. Here are three reasons the Hoosiers (3-4, 1-3) lost their fourth game in a row:
First-half rally
The day started as badly as it could have for Indiana, when Connor Bazelak threw an interception on the first offensive snap of the game. It would set an early tone.
Behind the hyperaccurate Taulia Tagovailoa, Maryland (5-2, 2-2) raced to a 14-3 lead. Tagovailoa broke contain, picking IU apart through the air with an 11-of-15 start. For a moment, against a good offense in front of a sleepy fall-break crowd, it looked like Indiana might come apart.
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To their credit, the Hoosiers dug in. Their pressure started getting to Tagovailoa, and downfield coverage let that pressure build and affect him. Bazelak rallied to throw touchdown passes to Cam Camper and Josh Henderson. After that hot start, Tagovailoa finished the half missing on seven of his last 12 pass attempts.
The result: Underdog Indiana took a deserved 17-14 lead into halftime.
Offensive rhythm
It's been frustratingly rare for Indiana since Big Ten play resumed, but the Hoosiers found some to boast about Saturday.
Even after Bazelak began the second half as he had the first, with an interception, and Maryland took a 24-17 lead, IU dug in. The Hoosiers posted long, methodical touchdown drives (helped, at times, by mistakes from the Big Ten's most-penalized team). Across both halves, Indiana had scoring drives of eight, 11, 11 and 17 plays.
Not every possession ended in a touchdown. There was still plenty of imperfection in IU's overall performance. But an offense that has craved these kinds of commanding, consistent drives all season found some when it needed them Saturday.
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Hoosiers hurt themselves
In the end, their mistakes proved too costly.
Maryland scored 10 of its points off those two interceptions. It sealed the game after a third, an Andison Coby fumble after Coby had passed the line to gain into Maryland territory with a little more than five minutes left.
Bad teams lose games these ways. IU offered hope for a meaningful turnaround with its 3-0 start, but the four-game losing streak that's followed has been pockmarked by the kinds of mistakes that doomed the Hoosiers over and over. They almost certainly robbed Indiana of its last realistic shot at a postseason run.
From here, the season becomes defined by damage limitation, unless there is an upset lurking in a difficult November. Once promising, 2022 has quickly come to resemble 2021, a difficult truth for Tom Allen and company to confront.
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU football vs. Maryland score: Why Hoosiers lost to Terrapins
