Indiana advanced to 2-0 Friday night under the lights in Memorial Stadium after pummeling Western Illinois 77-3.
The Hoosiers' win set a new school record in Friday night's game. Scoring 77 points breaks the previous record set in 1901 when Indiana defeated Franklin 76-0. Quite an accomplishment for Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti and his team in their second game of the season.
Indiana running back Justice Ellison was a substantial playmaker for the Hoosiers on Friday night. With five carries and a touchdown by the end of the first quarter Ellison looked comfortable in his role on the field. He was consistent in finding the gaps and pushing through to make the plays. Ellison finished with 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns, his longest going for 47 yards.
Hoosiers wide receiver Elijah Sarratt also had a game. The connection between Kurtis Rourke and Sarratt helped in advancing Indiana towards the end zone. Sarratt finished with 137 yards in a 38-yard touchdown catch.
“It’s always fun playing with him,” Sarratt said of his connection with Rourke. “I've never not had fun playing with him.”
Western Illinois did not have as nearly a competitive edge to them Friday like Indiana. Struggles all around were no help, but were especially apparent on the defensive side of the ball. In week one this is where this team really struggled and those same issues brought themselves to Bloomington.
They left a lot of gaps open, easy points for Indiana and especially Ellison to target. They went to the drawing board multiple times trying different formations and shifts, anything to try and at least slow down the Hoosiers but found little success. They had nine penalties by the end of the game, four of which were false starts and did not help Western Illinois' case at all.
Fans got to see a touch of Indiana's younger players in Friday night's game as well. Quarterback Tayven Jackson caught a few minutes on the field. He was 3-for-3 on passing attempts for 104 yards total and scored a touchdown himself. Cignetti spoke more on allowing the young players to get some reps in and how his team played as a whole.
"I was pleased that our team played with an edge and an attitude,” Cignetti said.
Cignetti had praise for his team especially cleaning up things that presented issues last week like penalties. He was glad to see his young players getting time in the game so early in their career, and finally he was happy with the way his team turned it around after what he called a poor practice on Tuesday and really leaned into playing with a lead.
Indiana's attention now turns to conference play next Saturday. They will travel to Pasadena, California to open up Big Ten play against new conference addition UCLA at the Rose Bowl. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. PST. The game will be covered on NBC and streaming on Peacock.
