Well that was fun, wasn’t it?
Indiana finally got the dominant victory we fans have become accustomed to, coasting to a 47-15 win over Rutgers. Notably, this is the same Scarlet Knights team that played USC to one touchdown in Piscataway earlier this year.
The Scarlet Knights wound up putting together a couple of drives in the second half that will give Bryant Haines and company something to work on next week, but as a whole, this was the team win Indiana needed.
The offense dominated. The defense did
its job. The Hoosiers are 5-0.
Here are 3 observations from tonight’s win:
Josh Hoover
Josh Hoover had become the center of some unfair controversy this week after missing a few passes over the first four games that were ultimately meaningless. Tonight, he showed why Curt Cignetti has been so high on him despite his struggles.
Hoover completed his first 1o pass attempts today, only missing after taking a shot to Nick Marsh in the end zone on what looked like a partially broken play. He ended the night going 20/27 for 251 yards and four touchdowns.
Most importantly, Hoover was smart with the ball tonight. Rutgers is not the best defense he’ll see, but he’s continually shown a willingness to take a sack over an interception when nothing is open downfield. He’s now thrown for 15 touchdowns versus zero interceptions on the year.
Offensive Firepower
Normally, Hoover’s night would have been the headline for the offense, but Indiana was firing on all cylinders tonight.
Turbo Richard went for a career-high 204 yards on the ground, the second straight week that Indiana has had a rusher break the 200-yard mark. Lee Beebe Jr. also had an outstanding night, going for 122 yards on 18 carries.
Then there were the receivers. Charlie Becker had a quietly dominant eight receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown, while Nick Marsh had seven catches for 120 yards and a touchdown of his own. That’s two running backs over 100 yards and two receivers over 100 yards, all four of whom had a touchdown.
This kind of production is largely why Josh Hoover has room to miss a couple of throws here and there. Indiana has talent up and down the lineup in a way that any Big Ten opponent will struggle to match.
Indiana’s Secondary
The real test for Indiana tonight was going to be how it managed KJ Duff alongside Rutgers’ other receiving threats. On the whole, I’d give the group a B-.
Indiana did what it needed to do containing Duff. The Hoosiers kept him under 100 yards for just the second time this season, and held him scoreless for the first time all year. These are two things that Haines can hang his hat on regardless of personnel or game situation.
Later in the second half, though, Rutgers found some success passing downfield. AJ Surace had a pair of home run passes on touchdown drives that could either be viewed as exploiting a weakness on Indiana’s roster OR exploiting a team that knew it was on its way to victory.
Either way, these lapses give Haines and Cignetti something to focus on going forward, as the Hoosiers prep for harder tests against Nebraska and Ohio State over the next two weeks.
