Winning solves a lot of problems.
Whether detractors doubt a team’s strength of schedule, its ability to handle adversity or doubt a brazenly-confident head coach’s ability to turn around one of the lowliest programs in college football, nothing puts those whispers to bed like stacking victories.
Halfway through his first season in Bloomington, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti is off to a perfect start. The Hoosiers are the first 6-0 team in the country, and after a 41-24 win at Northwestern (Indiana’s first road win over the Wildcats since the Clinton administration) they will rise further up the national ranks.
Indiana’s win by the water of Lake Michigan looked different to those that preceded it – the defense, which was allowing fewer than 250 yards per game, gave up 336 to Northwestern. Quarterback Jack Lausch looked solid against Indiana’s soft zone defense, throwing for a season-high 243 yards and scrambling for 50 more. Linebacker Jailin Walker, one of the captains of Indiana’s defense, left the game in the first half with an injury.
Nearly every time Indiana scored, Northwestern punched back – after punting on their first two drives, the Wildcats scored on three of their next five. The problem for Northwestern wasn’t that its offense couldn’t produce. It’s that its defense, like all who tried and failed in the previous five weeks, couldn’t keep up with Kurtis Rourke and the high-flying Hoosier offense.
“Our offense just keeps answering the bell over and over,” Cignetti said to Big Ten Network postgame.
He’s right – after a turnover on downs and a punt to begin the game, Indiana scored on its final seven drives while forcing back-to-back turnovers on downs in the fourth quarter. Rourke picked up the phone at every opportunity.
Cignetti has been adamant throughout the season that he recruited Rourke because of his experience and poise. Rourke didn’t throw an interception until week five versus Maryland on Sept. 28. Even when he misses throws, he remains level-headed and confident, and that confidence was back in full force at Northwestern. Rourke, protected by a veteran offensive line, threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns while completing 76% of his passes.
He completed passes into tight windows to multiple receivers, the top among them being Elijah “Waffle House” Sarratt. The always-open James Madison transfer hauled in seven passes for 135 yards a week after catching seven passes for 128 yards and a touchdown versus Maryland. Ke’Shawn Williams and Miles Cross dazzled with spectacular catches, each finding the end zone.
Indiana’s offense is so dangerous because it can beat defenses in multiple ways – it averaged over 200 rushing yards per game before Saturday’s win over Northwestern and racked up 149 yards on the ground against the Wildcats. Behind the same offensive line that gave Rourke time to connect with his talented receivers, Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton each racked up over 50 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground.
When a team has as many explosive weapons as Indiana, they are difficult to contain. Although the defense still has some questions to answer with respect to its pass coverage and containing the quarterback on scrambles, the offense is more than capable of out-slugging opponents. Indiana has now gained over 500 yards in three straight games and four times overall this season. It seemingly moves the ball at will, and so far no team has been able to keep pace or force them off-schedule for multiple drives in succession.
“This was the first time we’ve been tested,” Cignetti said. “I like how we responded.”
After a much-deserved bye week, ranked and still-undefeated Indiana will host Nebraska on Oct. 19. Led by freshman phenom Dylan Raiola and cheered on by a fanbase that travels as well as anyone in the country, the Huskers will provide Indiana with another tall test. If Saturday’s win at Northwestern, Indiana’s first in over 30 years, is any indication, the Hoosiers will be up to the task.
