Kiel comes up short in second start

One consistent area of concern for the Indiana Hoosiers so far this season has been the low level of play from the quarterback position. Both Ed Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel have had their opportunities to start, and neither has been particularly impressive in leading the offense. Quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Rod Smith acknowledged as much this week when he admitted that the level of play from the position has been decent but that both Wright-Baker and Kiel needed to continue improving.

Unfortunately for Indiana, that improvement was difficult to find on Saturday as Kiel made the start and failed to give the Hoosiers the offensive spark that they needed in a demoralizing loss to Illinois. Kiel completed six of his 19 passes, threw for only 71 yards and lost a fumble that led directly to an Illinois defensive touchdown. Kevin Wilson attempted to clarify the quarterback situation after the game as he explained why Kiel started over Wright-Baker – who has been nursing an ankle injury sustained against North Texas – and true freshman Tre Roberson.

“Ed was maybe 90-95% this week and maybe could have gone, but we just wanted to save him for another week and so we went with Dusty,” he said. “Dusty got nicked up early in the game and had trouble making his throws after that.”

Kiel’s injury came a couple of plays before his lost fumble as he was nearly brought down behind the line of scrimmage and somehow managed to dump the ball to Stephen Houston, who ran for a 48 yard gain. In fairness to Kiel, that play was probably the single most impressive play he has made in an Indiana uniform, as he turned what looked to be a loss of yards into a spectacular gain. Unfortunately, that would be the only great – or even really good – play Kiel would make for the rest of the game.

Aside from his pass to Houston out of a broken play, Kiel threw for only 23 yards, completed fewer than 30% of his passes and was sacked three times before giving way to Roberson. He gave the Illinois defense plenty of credit after the game for their talent and approach.

“They’ve got plenty of quick guys and they showed different looks,” he said. “They threw a lot of different pressures out and disguised their coverages well.”

The Illini defense was very good, and Kiel’s play was not, which led to the Hoosier offense’s struggles. He played all but one series in the first half and Indiana totaled only 95 yards during that period of time, 56 through the air.

Kiel obviously needs better protection from his line in order to be effective, but he bears the lion’s share of responsibility for this loss. He short-armed multiple easy throws, was ineffective in just about every facet of the game and showed few signs of playing decently with the talent assembled around him.

Kiel’s apologists would say that this team doesn’t have the personnel to fit his talents, and they would be correct. Speaking pragmatically though, this team is what it is and Kiel doesn’t appear to fit in well with the pieces currently assembled around him.

Roberson shows promise in first extended opportunity

As disappointing as Dusty Kiel’s play was on Saturday, Tre Roberson’s provided some optimism for the Hoosier fan base. Coach Smith had said in the week leading up to the Saturday’s game that Roberson would likely see more time against Illinois in an attempt to utilize his athletic ability.

It’s doubtful that Smith envisioned Roberson playing as many snaps as he did. Considering how he played though, it wouldn’t be surprising to see his playing time increase as the season progresses. Roberson threw the game’s only interception, but also led Indiana’s only touchdown drive and more than doubled Kiel’s passing yardage output in two fewer attempts.

“Tre had a decent, not great week of practice this week,” said Wilson as he tempered his praise for the young quarterback. “But when Dusty got nicked up we sent him in and he made some things happen.”

Roberson’s impact is obvious from looking at the box score, as the four drives he led in the second half totaled 181 yards on 28 plays, compared to Indiana’s 43 play-119 yard total in the first half.

The two situations obviously aren’t completely analogous, as the Illini defense likely let off the gas with a late lead, but Roberson’s speed and elusiveness are two valuable attributes for an IU team which will face some strong defenses this year and has a very average offensive line.

“He played well,” Kiel admitted afterwards.

He’s obviously raw, but appears to be closer to ready than many had expected and would likely improve – and get some growing pains out of the way – if given more playing time.

“I’m trying to fit in when and how I can,” Roberson said afterward. “I’m just going to keep working to get better and fighting.”

If he does that, he should give Hoosier fans reason to pay attention, despite a season that has been a disappointment thus far.

Hoosier defense shows a few bright spots

On the surface, there may not appear to be many positive takeaways from Indiana’s blowout loss at the hands of Illinois. The Illini ran up 41 points and 518 yards of offense on only 77 plays and needed only 32:25 to do it. AJ Jenkins – possibly the best receiver in the conference – caught six passes for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Nathan Scheelhaase threw three touchdowns without a pick, and ran for another. Finally, the Illinois ground game totaled 308 yards (six more yards than the Hoosiers’ offensive total) on 55 carries.

It was an ugly performance which began on a 77 yard touchdown pass from Scheelhaase to Jenkins on third and 11 with four minutes to go in the first quarter.

“That play was a busted coverage and a miscommunication” said Kevin Wilson (somewhat irritably) after the game. “The guy who should have been covering (Jenkins) blitzed and (Jenkins) was wide open.”

He seemed less perturbed about Jenkins’ second touchdown, which made the score 27-13 and broke the game open.

“That second (touchdown) was just a big player making a big play,” he said. “It was a competitive play and (Scheelhaase) threw a perfect ball and hit him in stride. We defended it pretty well, maybe it could have been a little better but sometimes big players just make big plays.”

He then spoke regarding the defense.

“For the most part, our defense is battling,” he said. “We’re pointing in the right direction and working hard to improve. We’re gaining on defense. Coach Ekeler said that this week was their best week of practice. The kids are getting more comfortable and battled pretty well. There’s too much stress on them and we can’t keep doing that.”

Wilson’s assessment of the defense was surprisingly positive to some, but isn’t as crazy as it may sound.

The Hoosier defense forced a punt and a turnover on UI’s first two drives and held a 10-0 lead before Jenkins’ long touchdown put the Illini on the board. Illinois held a 14-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, but had totaled only 32 yards besides Jenkins’ score. A defense which had recorded only two sacks all season got to Scheelhaase three times and forced two turnovers, including one inside the Illini five-yard line.

This unit is obviously still a work in progress. It has blown several coverages this year, leading to big plays for the opposing offense and while it has played well for short stretches this year, it hasn’t yet pieced together an entire game.

Still, it’s trending in the right direction and will only continue to improve as young players like Bobby Richardson and the Hardin brothers grow more comfortable in their roles.

Now if only the offense could pull its weight.