Oregon turned the ball over three times in the first half of the Peach Bowl. Indiana turned those three turnovers into 21 points.
The first was as easy as it gets, an interception returned for a touchdown on the first play of the game. D’Angelo Ponds read Oregon quarterback Dante Moore like a book, undercutting the route and running 25 yards unscathed into the endzone.
The second was also pretty easy. Moore went to throw in the shadow of his own endzone and the ball caught the elbow of running back
Dierre Hill Jr. as the Ducks tried to fake the handoff. Mario Landino pounced on it and Indiana needed just three yards to score. Touchdown Kaelon Black from about one yard out.
The third required a bit more work. Daniel Ndukwe hit Moore from the right as he was going to throw and the ball flew out. Landino, yet again, was in the right place and fell on it. The Hoosiers went 19 yards to go up 35-7 as Oregon missed a field goal heading into halftime.
That felt like the ballgame. Indiana could play ball control from there on out to seal the win. It got more points on the board than it needed.
But the Hoosiers wanted more. And they got more.
Indiana got the ball out of the half and drove down the field in 11 plays, capping it off with a 13-yard touchdown pass to E.J. Williams. Oregon responded in kind, getting all the way down the field in two plays, scoring and getting the 2-point conversion to boot.
The Hoosiers kept going, scoring two more touchdowns and allowing just one on a 12-play, 75 yard drive. Indiana wasn’t necessarily playing it safe or trying to run down the clock. The Hoosiers wanted to keep putting points on the board, as many as possible. The defensive lapses to give the Ducks two more touchdowns? Annoying and needing cleaning up, according to Aiden Fisher.
Stifling a comeback practically? Sure, the more points the merrier. Letting your opponent know there’s nothing they can do to stop you? That the coming loss is inevitable? So why try? Absolutely.
Indiana’s done that twice now in the College Football Playoff, beating down Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl before pouring onto an all but defeated Oregon team in the Peach Bowl. Dominate. It’s what these Hoosiers do.
