Indiana defeated Northwestern 41-24 at Martin Stadium on Saturday afternoon to become 6-0 and remain undefeated for just the second time in program history.
Northwestern gave Indiana some adversity early on and held them to a close game throughout all four quarters. A touchdown in the fourth quarter from Ty Son Lawton edged the Hoosiers ahead and gave them the boost they needed. Tight end Zach Horton sealed the deal with a game-winning touchdown with three minutes remaining in the game.
“I'm not going to say we needed a game like that, but we were certainly tested back and forth,” Cignetti said.
The Hoosiers’ offense answered drive after drive on Saturday afternoon despite the pressure that Northwestern's defense had put on them. The ‘Cats are not the strongest when it comes to an offense that likes to pass attack, but they broke up a couple passes that held potential to be huge for Indiana.
However, things like that couldn’t shake quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who went 25-of-33 in passing attempts for 380 yards, three touchdowns and zero turnovers. The offense as a whole put up 529 yards in Saturday's game.
“There's always stuff to continue to work on,” Rourke said postgame. “(It was a) great statistic game, but it's a lot of confidence building to know that there's so much more out there as well.”
This Northwestern team that has struggled in the first four games they’ve played so far, played some of the best football they have all season. Giving Indiana's defense a lot of trouble, Jack Lausch and Co. did not let up. Trading touchdowns and field goals, both of these teams held a tight match. Going into halftime, Cignetti mentioned that this defense was not playing well and that they had to be better.
The Hoosiers had a chance to put the game away before halftime, but allowed too many Northwestern conversions and lacked zone coverage to do so.
Coming into the fourth quarter trailing three points, Northwestern had a window to get ahead of Indiana for the first time in the ball game. Lawton quickly shut that window, rushing up the middle for a yard and shoving his way into the endzone to put the Hoosiers up by 10.
In the following drive, the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs, which then allowed Indiana to score over 40 points for the fifth straight game this season. The result of the Wildcats’ drive ultimately shut the door on any hopes Northwestern had on handing the Hoosiers their first loss of the season.
Mikail Kamara, a key leader on Indiana's defense, has been vocal all season about the potential that this defense holds. Despite the troubles the Hoosiers faced today, his view was focused on what's next.
With the bye week ahead before the Nebraska Cornhuskers come to Bloomington, Kamara sees it as a fresh start and says that they've got to keep the ball rolling.
“Right now this is not the goal. Being 6-0 isn't necessarily the goal,” Kamara said. “The goal is to go and try to win a natty (National Title).”
With Indiana being the face of a lot of recent national media coverage and attention from social media, there's no doubt about the chatter around this team.
Cignetti mentioned to the media post game that he doesn't worry about his veteran team. He knows that they won't get distracted from the chatter and accolades. If anything, the chatter grows this team’s determination to keep doing what they're doing.
“I want the chip on their shoulder to keep growing, is what I want” Cignetti said.
With Saturday's win, Indiana is now the first team in college football to become 6-0 and bowl eligible this season. Indiana will take next week off with a bye period and prepare to face Nebraska (4-1) at home back at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 19th.
