Indiana a Major Disappointment in Loss to Ball State

The Kevin Wilson era opened with a huge disappointment.

Indiana looked like they were well on their way to winning the game as they scored on their first possession.

They went 76 yards on 15 plays with the drive ending on Matt Perez's 9-yard touchdown run.

Their first possession in the second quarter ended up with touchdown as well. The Hoosiers needed only five plays for 80 yards to get in the endzone. The drive was capped with a 65-yard touchdown pass to Demarlo Belcher. That gave Indiana a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.

That was the last time the Hoosiers visited the endzone for the entire game.

They could only muster six total points the rest of the game and looked like a completely different team.

Ball State controlled the line of scrimmage and did whatever they wanted against the Hoosiers.

The Cardinals rushed for 210 yards and quarterback Keith Wenning looked like another quarterback that calls Lucas Oil home. Wenning was 23 for 29 for 179 yards with two touchdowns and zero Interceptions. He also ran eight times for 61 yards and a touchdown.

Wenning's first touchdown pass was to Barrington Scott on a 1-yard pass to start off the second quarter. He then tied the game at 14 when he did a QB sneak later in the second quarter.

In the third quarter Wenning threw a beautiful pass to receiver Connor Ryan in the corner of the end zone.  That gave Ball State a 24-17 lead and the Cardinals never looked back.

Ball State controlled the ball for most of the second half and sealed the game in the fourth by getting first down after first down.  The worn-out Indiana's defense couldn't get the Cardinals offense off the field.

Ball State ended a long drive in the fourth quarter with a field goal to the Cards a 27-17 lead.

Indiana drove down the field late in the fourth quarter but could only get a field goal to make the score 27-20 which forced an onside kick.

The Cardinals recovered the kick that gave Ball State their second win in a row against the Hoosiers.

It was also the first time in eight years that Indiana lost their season opener.

Ed Wright-Baker won the starting quarterback job for the Hoosiers but looked disappointing.  He ended up 20 for 32 on the game with 272 yards and a touchdown.

Wright-Baker tried to scramble too much and held onto the ball way too long. When he was forced to throw he was highly inaccurate.

The Hoosiers offensive line gave up four sacks which this unit only gave up 12 all of last season.  I credit most of the sacks to Wright-Baker for not getting rid of the ball or running into trouble.

If the Hoosiers don't fix the lines on both side of the ball and the quarterback situation they will be in for a long season.

The four sacks on Wright-Baker to Ball State giving up none and the run defense needing help with Ball State rushing for 210 yards while IU rushed for 103 was the determining factors in the game. That gave Ball State the time of possession edge with 36:33-23:27.

Indiana (0-1) hosts Virginia (1-0) next Saturday night in their home opener at Memorial Stadium.  The game can be seen on the Big Ten Network at 7:00 P.M.