The Indiana football program resumes Big Ten play on Saturday against Maryland and will have a hefty task ahead of them.

Indiana (2-2) opens up as a two-touchdown underdog to Maryland. The initial line is at 14.5-points, per FanDuel Sports. It has flexed anywhere from 14.5 to 16 points depending on different betting sites.

Maryland is 4-0 and coming off of a 31-9 win over Michigan State on Saturday. Taulia Tagovailoa leads a high-powered offense as he leads the Big Ten in passing yards at 1,112. He is also tied for the most touchdown passes (8) in the league, fourth in quarterback rating (148.7) and has only been sacked twice.

The Terps also have a versatile rushing attack. Colby McDonald leads the Big Ten in yards per carry among runners with at least 25 attempts. He averages 7.8 yards per carry. He has 204 yards and two touchdowns. Roman Hemby leads the rushing attack, however, with 255 yards and a 5.1 yard per carry average. He also has four touchdowns.

Receiving wise, Maryland has three pass catchers in the top-16 in the Big Ten in total yardage — all over 195 yards.

Indiana is coming off of a four-overtime win against Akron in week three. The Hoosiers were out gained 473 to just 282. Akron had 24 first downs compared to 14 for IU. Indiana was 3-of-14 on third downs, averaging 7.7 yards per third down, and had just four drives longer than four plays all night.

Trending: Indiana Football haunted by miscues in 4OT win against Akron

Four of the five second-half possessions before overtime consisted of the following: three plays for three yards, three plays for two yards, three plays for six yards and three plays for zero yards.

Tayven Jackson, in his second start as the official starter, had his worst performance so far this season — one built around ‘growing pains’. He was just 11-of-26 passing for 190 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

“We got to execute better in practice. We play a Big Ten team next week, and what we did out there today is not going to cut it,” Jackson said. “So we got to be better on Sunday and Monday, and the rest of the week.”

Kick is set for 3:30 pm ET on Big Ten Network next Saturday.

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated on Twitter @Indiana_FRN, Facebook and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. You can also listen to the Talking’ Bout the Hoosiers podcast on Spotify.

Indiana football pulled off a miracle in its win over Akron. Yes, you read that right, it was a miracle the Hoosiers won this game. A game they were 16.5 point favorites at home against a team from the Mid-American Conference took a miracle for Indiana to win.

With less than 5 seconds remaining and the game tied at 17, Akron missed a 32 yard field goal that would have won them the game. Instead, Indiana football pulled out the victory in the 4th overtime when they pulled off a variation of the famous ‘Philly Special’ to give them the victory.

Indiana did not deserve to win this game. Miscues, penalties and poor play-calling put them in a position to lose. The offense never seemed to get going and some critical drops in big moments were almost fatal for Indiana.

In the first quarter, Indiana was driving into Akron territory when, on 3rd down, Tayven Jackson found an uncovered Donaven McCulley. While Jackson’s pass was a touch low, it should have been a routine catch for the former quarterback turned wide receiver. Instead of the touchdown that should have been, the ball bounced off of the hands of McCulley and Indiana was forced to punt.

Indiana seemed unfocused at times and unprepared for the Akron Zips and Tom Allen believes it started at practice this past week.

“I was looking for opportunities and did not like at all how we practiced. We actually restarted some things on Thursday,” Allen said postgame. “… I just sense the lack of understanding who we were playing and their ability to beat you and so — which is mind-blowing because we don’t have any right to think that at this point.”

Drops weren’t the only mistakes that haunted the Hoosiers Saturday night. Poor play-calling, especially in the red zone, was a killer for Indiana.

After Louis Moore’s first interception of the night, Indiana had the ball at the Akron four yard line with a chance to go up 14. Offensive Coordinator Walt Bell proceeded to call two runs for Christian Turner, who was stuffed both times.

On 3rd down, Indiana went to a wildcat formation with Donaven McCulley, who could not score on the QB keeper. On 4th down at the one yard line, Walt Bell decided to run it again. And again it ended with the same result as McCulley was stuffed and Indiana turned it over on downs.

In the second half, Indiana was in a similar position, leading by four with the ball at the Akron 2 yard line for 2nd and goal. Indiana attempted to run it up the middle twice, first with running back Christian Turner and then with Tayven Jackson, who were both stuffed, forcing the Hoosiers to settle for a field goal from the one yard line.

Their inability to score touchdowns in goal to go situations nearly cost them another game. Just one week ago, Indiana lost against Louisville because they could not convert from the one-yard line.

“You’re at the goal line, you’ve got to score touchdowns and not have to kick field goals,” Allen said about their struggles to finish drives. “Obviously, got stopped on the 1 before. We chose to kick a football from inside the one. But, yeah, it starts up front. Got to block better.”

The lack of creativity and execution inside the red zone is a real concern for Indiana football right now. With Indiana heading into the heart of the schedule, something needs to change fast or it could be a long season for Hoosier football fans.

Penalties have been another issue for Indiana football this season. Some poorly timed penalties hurt the Hoosiers and, frankly, there were a lot of avoidable ones.

While Indiana only lost 50 yards on five penalties, a few offsetting ones and more hurt the Hoosiers. With Akron leading by three, Indiana jumped offside, giving them the free shot down the field, which was caught for 28 yards.

Mental mistakes have haunted the Hoosiers all season and Saturday was no different. If not for three interceptions from the defense, including one for a score, Saturday could have been much darker for Indiana football.

While the three turnovers forced were big for Indiana, some poor tackling and containment allowed Akron QB DJ Irons to rush for 141 yards and two touchdowns. Indiana had chances to get him down but he seemed to evade a defender’s grasp every time it came down to it. In overtime, Irons made Indiana defensive end Andre Carter miss while scrambling for a 10 yard touchdown.

All three phases were bad for Indiana in this one. After Akron scored to take the lead, they went for the onside kick which was recovered off the hands of wide receiver DeQuece Carter. The defense forced a big stop on the ensuing drive to prevent any damage, but it could have been a lot worse.

It seemed like Indiana was lost in all phases of the game against an inferior opponent and it almost cost them a game they came into as huge favorites.

Ultimately, Indiana was lucky to beat Akron. With the team traveling to face Maryland next week, something has to change if the Hoosiers are going to have any shot at beating the undefeated Terps.

SEE ALSO: Indiana Football Notebook: Final thoughts, takeaways from week four

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated on Twitter @Indiana_FRN, Facebook and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. You can also listen to the Talking’ Bout the Hoosiers podcast on Spotify.

There is no question that the Indiana football offense has struggled all year and Saturday night may have been the tip of the iceberg.

Look no further than the third overtime two-point conversion attempt. Indiana had a wide open Jaylin Lucas — nobody was within 10 yards of him — in the end zone. Instead, it was an incomplete pass that forced overtime number four.

But, it’s what quarterback Tayven Jackson said following the game that is more jarring.

“He’s not my read. It’s 1-2-3, and then get out of there, so I’ve never looked at Jaylin ever running that play in practice,” Jackson said. “So, I know he’s butt naked (open), but it’s not my read.”

Jaylin Lucas had 10 receptions for 98 yards and one touchdown in week three. On Saturday, Lucas had zero targets. Yes, zero. Now, it’s on both Jackson and the coaching staff to progress and find ways to make this offense more effective going into Big Ten play.

“For me, it’s seeing signals and being better at reading the defense,” Jackson said of his development. “I got rushed a little bit, and I was trying to force things, and that’s never good. But as a team, we just need to have better focus.”

Jackson finished 11-of-26 passing for 190 yards with one touchdown and one interception. High throws, tunnel vision at times and young mistakes reared their head for the redshirt freshman who was making his third start of the season — and second since being named the official starter.

‘Growing pains’ is how head coach Tom Allen described it following the win.

“It was a tough night. Definitely wasn’t his best,” Allen said. ” … We had some open receivers we didn’t hit. We had three critical drops. One where it would have been a touchdown early on. Just lack of focus. That’s really what it is. So those three drops hurt us. And then just not being able to execute. So just growing pains, without question.”

The big play early on was a deep ball down the field to Donaven McCulley — which resulted in a wide-open drop. Omar Cooper had a drop later in the game and there were times that Jackson starred down receivers too much.

All parts that Jackson owned.

“They were on me,” Jackson said. ‘That drop that Donny (McCulley) had was one me. I put it at the knees and I should have put it higher for him to catch that ball easy. All the other drops were on me. They weren’t perfect throws. Unless they’re absolutely perfect throws, then we can talk about it. But it was on me.”

Jackson has now had three starts of 18-of-21 passing, 24-of-34 passing and then Saturday’s game of 11-of-26. 85.7 percent passing, then 70.6 percent and 42.3 percent.

On the season, Jackson has thrown for 749 yards on 62.8 percent passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

In total, Indiana football was out gained 473 to just 282. The Zips had 24 first downs compared to 14 for IU. Indiana was 3-of-14 on third downs, averaging 7.7 yards per third down, and had just four drives longer than four plays all night.

Four of the five second-half possessions before overtime consisted of the following: three plays for three yards, three plays for two yards, three plays for six yards and three plays for zero yards.

“We got to execute better in practice. We play a Big Ten team next week, and what we did out there today is not going to cut it,” Jackson said. “So we got to be better on Sunday and Monday, and the rest of the week.”

“Not good enough. Not even close,” Allen echoed .”Below the standard. Below what’s acceptable, for sure.”

SEE ALSO: Indiana Football Notebook: Final thoughts, takeaways from week four

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated on Twitter @Indiana_FRN, Facebook and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. You can also listen to the Talking’ Bout the Hoosiers podcast on Spotify.