Quarterback play isn't Indiana's biggest issue after overtime win vs Minnesota | Overreactions

BLOOMINGTON — The path for reigning national champion Indiana football to get to the College Football Playoff is still in front of them.

And while quarterback Josh Hoover had battled an injury, and was subsequently pulled to start the second half for Grant Wilson, the No. 4 Hoosiers edged Minnesota in overtime 23-16. While the quarterback play was under scrutiny early, Wilson found his rhythm and stepped up to cover the mistakes of special teams, which were rectified at the end of regulation in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world.

Addressing overreactions after the loss:

IU football needs the bye

That's not an overreaction. But it's also not a cure-all.

Teams can't reinvent themselves after a bye week any more than they can a regular one. The Hoosiers' problems aren't all going to solve themselves simply because they get an extra seven days between games for the first time this season.

What Indiana can (and needs to) get out of the bye is healthier. The offensive line looks banged up. So does the quarterback. Other positions are probably dealing with unseen physical issues as well.

Expecting dramatic schematic fixes is asking for disappointment. But the simple act of rest might do this group some real good.

Latest on Hoover: Indiana starting quarterback does not start second half of game vs Minnesota

Quarterback play isn't the IU offense's biggest issue

Again, probably not an overreaction.

Hoover was far from perfect Saturday, before he exited, and it's fair to start wondering whether confidence is piling on top of injury at this point. But he's also performing without a consistent run game, one that receded again after some encouraging signs last week at Michigan. And the wider function of the offense raises serious questions about offensive line play right now too.

It's also worth pointing out the lift Grant Wilson gave the Hoosiers when he stepped in for Hoover in the second half. Quarterback play might be the offense's biggest issue. It's more than fair to say it's far from the only one

Meet Grant Wilson: Indiana turns to backup quarterback while trailing to Minnesota

Grant Wilson saved the season

In one sense, he did. With Hoover sidelined by an apparent injury, Wilson stepped in and delivered 182 total yards and a touchdown, that score the overtime first-down pass to Charlie Becker. Teammates heaped congratulations on him after the game, and deservedly so.

We'll see what happens with Hoover's health from here forward. But from a playoff perspective, Indiana's ambitions were revived in the biggest way imaginable because of their veteran backup.

Special teams will cost Indiana a CFP berth

Saturday was a particularly bad day. That phase has just looked so much sloppier and more problematic than what we've come to expect from Curt Cignetti- and Grant Cain-coached units in that phase. That's what's been so jarring.

Nico Radicic has now missed five kicks this season, after just two in his entire career before then. Billy Gowers' punting led directly to both Minnesota scores in the first half. IU might have been fortunate to only be punished for running into, and not roughing, the kicker in the first quarter. The bad snap in the fourth quarter cost IU a chance to tie the game. It was fortunate to have long-range kicker Paddy McAteer nail a 60-yarder to force overtime. All of this adding up to the way a winning program finds its way when it matters most.

Indiana has played such clean special teams football in Cignetti's tenure up until now. Maybe it will get cleaned up, but it's been concerningly inconsistent through nine games now. And it might leave the Hoosiers outside the playoff if they slip up and a game is decided on the margins.

Special teams just saved the day

You get to choose your overreaction on this one, after McAteer's unlikely heroics.

His 60-yard field goal is a program record, and quite possibly the most unlikely contribution imaginable, in a moment and a game like that one.

Special teams spent Saturday taking, and then gave at the most important moment imaginable. College football, eh?

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Quarterback play isn't Indiana's biggest issue after overtime win vs Minnesota | Overreactions