A few takeaways from WKU's 33-31 loss to Indiana
Western Kentucky put up a fight with Big Ten program Indiana on Saturday night, but ultimately suffered a tough 33-31 loss in front of a record crowd of 25,171 fans at Houchens-Smith Stadium.
Today, I'm taking a look back at the game and offering a few takeaways from the Hilltoppers' loss.
1. The penalties hurt.
There's no question about it. WKU shot itself in the foot multiple times Saturday with careless penalties. The Hilltoppers were called for nine penalties for a total of 59 yards – and there were multiple that helped decide the game.
The main penalty, and the one that stands out above the rest? The defensive offsides miscue that gave Indiana a second field goal try and put three points on the Hoosiers' side of the scoreboard – three points that helped them leave Bowling Green with a win.
While WKU's defense kept IU from scoring a touchdown, the Hoosiers had to settle for a long 51-yard field goal attempt. The kick was short, and the Hilltoppers would've gotten a stop – if they didn't jump offsides, that is. Instead of getting the ball back without IU scoring, the Hoosiers instead got to kick it again – and from 46 yards instead of 51 – and sent it straight through the uprights.
Those three points proved to be crucial as WKU lost by just two points. Take that field goal away and the Hilltoppers would've been celebrating a win instead of reflecting on a loss.
2. Fourth down decisions.
There were a couple of instances Saturday where WKU had to make some critical decisions on fourth down.
The first? With WKU trailing 17-7 near the midway point of the second quarter, the Hilltoppers were facing a 4th and 1 at the Indiana 23-yard line. They could've sent out Brayden Narveson to kick a field goal – one he would've easily made – and got within 17-10, but they instead chose to go for it from that spot.
The play was a handoff to Kye Robichaux – and it went for a loss of a yard and gave the ball back to IU.
The second? Down 26-24 early into the fourth quarter, WKU was facing a 4th and 1 from the Indiana 48. The Hilltoppers – with really nothing to lose and everything to gain – could've gone for it and tried to keep their drive alive, but they instead sent out John Haggerty to punt it.
After punting, the Hoosiers put together a 14-play, 86-yard series that knocked 6:19 off the clock and scored to push their advantage to 33-24.
Those are two decisions that won't be forgotten anytime soon and will almost always be brought up whenever discussing the game in the future.
3. Too many easy catches.
WKU's secondary certainly wasn't at its best Saturday.
The Hilltoppers' unit allowed Indiana's main targets – Ty Fryfogle (10 catches for 98 yards), Peyton Hendershot (six catches for 94 yards) and Miles Marshall (five catches for 64 yards) – to combine for 256 of the Hoosiers' total yardage number of 507.
IU quarterback Michael Penix Jr. threw the ball 53 times, and 35 were caught – with a majority of those completions going to the aforementioned players who were nearly wide open each play. They made it look easy, and that's not a good thing.
The Hilltoppers' play from that position has to improve – period.
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