Peter Holland Jr./ Contributing Writer
With a lot of confidence and momentum prior to facing the Indiana Hoosiers, the Panthers clearly were outnumbered as they came up short with the final score of 22-36. Alex McGough was 21-37 for 249 yards and one touchdown. McGough went down late in the fourth quarter after throwing a pick. Then Indiana’s linebacker, Marcus Oliver, landed on McGough’s head, in result, kept him out the rest of the game. He is still being evaluated by the trainers and probably might have a concussion. Wide Receiver Thomas Owens was the best player on the Panther’s side of the ball as he made nine catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns. So what went wrong Saturday night?
Turnovers Turnovers Turnovers
Panthers gave up three total turnovers during the game. Two were fumbles and one was an interception. The first fumble came during the third quarter when McGough and starting running back Alex Gardner weren’t on the same page when McGough ran a read option, but fumbled when he thought he was getting the carry instead of Gardner, which resulted to the Hoosier’s defense recovering the football. The second fumble came when McGough took a sack on his blindside and the ball popped out which led the Hoosier’s defense to recover it right after the offense tied the game up 22-22 prior to the second turnover. The final turnover came late in the fourth quarter when the Panther’s offense decided to go for it on fourth in goal. McGough rolled out to his left while he was under pressure, nobody was open, so he threw the ball in the air while he took a shot to the head and it fell in the wrong hands, which resulted in a 96 yard pick six, which was the X-factor of the game. Head Coach Ron Turner appreciated the team’s effort, but clearly wasn’t good enough to get the win. “They played a solid game, but they made too many of them, turnovers, penalties, missed assignments,” Turner said according to Miami Herald.
Stopping The Run
The Panther’s defense gave up 205 rushing yards. Majority came from Indiana’s running back Jordan Howard. The Panther’s defense had some encounters going against Howard back when he played for UAB last season. Eight months later, Howard has already looked like a Big-10 running back in the past two games. Howard had 27 carries for 159 yards. The defense struggled to tackle the 6’1 230 pounder as he averaged 5.9 yards per carry. Linebackers were on their backs, the d-line had no penetration against the starting front five and the secondary wasn’t a factor when Howard got to the next level. “Their running game was really simple,” starting linebacker Anthony Wint said to Miami Herald. “They were more physical than us at point of attack and we just needed to tackle better.”
O-Line Problems Still a Factor
Two sacks, two fumbles, multiple false starts were just only a few mishaps from the front five. Indiana’s defensive front outplayed the Panthers’ offensive line by pressuring Alex McGough and giving penetration. When McGough came out and substituted fifth year graduate transfer, Trey Anderson at QB, both Trey and the O-Line couldn’t get on the same page whether Trey couldn’t get the cadence right or the line couldn’t stay focused on the snap. Either or, the offensive line have to step it up and avoid little mistakes.
With the Panther’s 1-1, they are now preparing for their first home opening game against North Carolina Central. This is the opportunity for them to redeem themselves and build back momentum before going back on the road for their first conference game against Louisiana Tech. If Alex McGough is not available for Saturday’s game, expect Trey Anderson to start at quarterback for the Panthers.
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