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Three things we learned from Indiana's victory over Wake Forest

Indiana made good on Coach Kevin Wilson's offseason promise with some inspired defensive play and, at times, disjointed offense.

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Indiana went on the road against a Power 5 school and after a close first half, pulled way away in the second before letting up in garbage time and making all of us sweat. Please review your town's emergency procedures for evacuation routes and other pertinent information.

  • The guts of this team are the best they've been in some time. FOOTBAW IS WON IN THE TRENCHES, PAWWW but all over-used football phrases aside, the entire game, particularly the second half, was a clinic in trench play for the Hoosiers. Indiana blew Wake Forest off the ball both ways, giving the running backs plenty of space on offense and making the day a nightmare for Wake's true freshman quarterback on the other side of the ball. Yes, the competition has not been top notch, but it has been awhile since Indiana has looked this good on the lines through four games. The 4-0 start is no coincidence.
  • Nate Sudfeld is still searching for consistency on the way back from injury. Thanks to the powers that be at UAB for Jordan Howard, because Sudfeld and the passing offense has shown some inconsistency early in the year. Some bumps in the road are expected given how much time Suds missed last season and all the new components in his supporting cast, and I trust they'll get things ironed out, but it's worth pointing out that you typically want to get this stuff ironed out prior to the conference slate and ... well, that's over now. Sometimes you forget that Sudfeld has less than a full season at the helm of the Hoosiers as their unquestioned starter and not in a rotation.
  • Jordan Howard is a freight train and should be called #HOSS. We didn't learn this today, but it should be repeated as much as possible.
  • This team has to learn to finish games. Despite controlling most of the game, Indiana let Wake Forest threaten late in the game and made us all sweat a little bit more than most fans would have, given what we've all been through the past few years. You can dick around with the Florida Internationals and the Wake Forests of the world, but if you can't close out leads against the better teams of the Big Ten, they'll make you pay. All that said: Indiana has folded nearly every time in the kind of situation the Demon Deacons put them in today but this time they came through. The next step in their evolution is to not get in those kind of situations to begin with.