With 3 turnovers, plenty other mistakes, IU blows its last best chance to course correct

BLOOMINGTON — Devon Matthews saw Maryland senior wide receiver Dontay Demus Jr. coming across the middle on a slant and read the play perfect.

Indiana cornerback Tiawan Mullen was pretty well draped on Demus anyway, but Matthews, a fifth-year senior safety, saw an opportunity to help. Right after Maryland backup quarterback Billy Edwards Jr.'s pass arrived and was knocked away by Mullen, Matthews arrived to deliver any force that would have been necessary to separate Demus from the ball if it had got to him. His hit was clean, his shoulder pads making contact with Demus' chest.

It was 3rd-and-5, and the play should have given Indiana the ball back with a three-point lead and a little over 7 minutes to go in the game. But Matthews, understandably proud of his effort, stood up after the hit and folded his arms in a display of bravado as Demus stood up. Matthews didn't appear to say anything and he didn't prevent Demus from standing up, but it was enough for the officials to throw a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct. That kept the drive moving, and Maryland turned it to a touchdown that gave the Terps the lead for good in a 38-33 victory that cut off almost any remaining realistic hope Indiana might have still had for bowl contention in 2022. It was Indiana's 700th loss in its existence, and the Hoosiers are the first team to ever reach that mark.

Postgame Q&A: Is Tom Allen on the hot seat? When does basketball start?

Coach Tom Allen wasn't thrilled about the official's decision, thinking Matthews' actions weren't nearly egregious enough to warrant a game-changing penalty.

"I just don't see that call being made in that situation," Allen said. "That's my opinion. I just don't see it."

Maybe it was a ticky-tack call, especially considering the gravity of the situation. But the celebration certainly wasn't necessary, and it was one of several critical mistakes Indiana made to squander its opportunities in what might have been its last best chance to turn its season around. As the Hoosiers have proven over and over again this season, they are flawed enough on both sides of the ball to not have much margin for error. They don't seem to have quite enough discipline to avoid error, and so they have lost four straight games.

At 3-4 overall, 1-3 in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers aren't mathematically eliminated from bowl contention yet, but after a winnable game at Rutgers next week, they play Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue. Ohio State has shown virtually no vulnerability, Penn State has shown some, but not enough to be exploited by a team near the bottom of the Big Ten East. Michigan State and Purdue have flaws, but the Hoosiers would have to play above their heads to beat both of them.

The Hoosiers didn't have to play above their heads to beat Maryland, especially because fate and the Terrapins gave them so many opportunities.

Maryland made plenty of mistakes of its own, committing nine penalties for 94 yards, giving the Hoosiers a pair of third-down conversions on its mistakes. And the Terps were met with tragic misfortune early in the fourth quarter when quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa suffered a lower leg injury and had to be carted off the field, leaving backup Edwards, who had thrown 16 passes all season to take over. That forced the Terps to rely on the run game in the fourth quarter, which seemed to bode well for the Hoosiers considering Maryland had rushed for just 45 yards in the first three quarters.

All of that should have added up to a substantial advantage for Indiana, especially with the lead and especially at home, but the Hoosiers still couldn't take advantage.

They gave it away with turnovers, one of them coming on the game's first play from scrimmage when quarterback Connor Bazelak was picked off at the Indiana 29 and the Terrapins turned that into the game's first touchdown. Bazelak was intercepted a second time to end the Hoosiers' first drive of the second half, but the most devastating giveaway was a fumble by wide receiver Andison Coby with 5:02 in the game that seemed to come mostly by his own mistake. Coby caught a pass on the left sideline, but had the ball in his right arm. When he tried to leap away from the defender, that defender got a helmet on it and knocked it loose, ending a drive that began in Maryland territory because of an exceptional kickoff return by freshman Jaylin Lucas.

Maryland scored on that possession as well. The Hoosiers already had 10 turnovers lost coming into the game, putting them 85th in the nation in ball security, and their three giveaways Saturday put them further down the list.

"We work so hard on ball security every single day," Allen said. "They got a helmet on the ball. It's frustrating without question. We have to do a better job protecting the football."

It was almost a cosmic insult that on the Hoosiers' final offensive possession that got every possible break. Wide receiver Emory Simmons caught a 25-yard pass that was tipped by two different Maryland defenders. Wide receiver Cam Camper caught another that was touched first by the Maryland defender in front of him but popped up in the air long enough to give him a chance to catch it. The Hoosiers scored a touchdown on that drive on a pass to Aaron Steinfeldt, but couldn't recover an onside kick to give themselves a chance to get the lead back.

"We just gotta capitalize on opportunities like that," linebacker Aaron Casey said. "I feel like we just have to play four quarters and take advantage of the opportunities we get. Man, it was just another one that came down to the fourth quarter that we let slip away."

Casey somehow makes that sound like a simple fix, but it's anything but that. The Hoosiers' defense has its moments and it forced five punts and a field goal attempt, but it also gave up five touchdown drives and 442 yards of total offense. Their offense shows flashes and Bazelak threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns, but he was erratic for much of the first half and threw two picks, and the Hoosiers ran for just 36 yards on 32 carries.

And at a certain point, the miscues — foolish penalties and turnovers — can no longer be considered flukes or one-offs but the mark of a mistake-prone team. One that can't hold on to the few great opportunities it gets to snag a win.

"It's so frustrating for me to have this type of pattern continue like this," Allen said. "It's hard to put a finger on. We've changed so many different things practice-wise, trying to emphasize strong smarts. ... To me we have to continue to look for ways to try to create."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU football: Hoosiers bowl hopes hurt in mistake-ridden Maryland loss