EAST LANSING, Mich. – When Michigan State quarterback Aiden Chiles connected with Nick Marsh in the back corner of the end zone to put the Spartans up 10-0, it looked like a team had finally figured out how to beat Indiana. Chiles was extending plays with his legs and finding open receivers at nearly every time of asking. Buoyed by a sea of green and white, the Michigan State defense forced back-to-back punts and held Indiana’s offense without a first down on its first two drives. An upset was in the cards.
Then, the Hoosiers adjusted. After a one-game absence due to a thumb injury, quarterback Kurtis Rourke settled in on Indiana’s third drive and the running back tandem of Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton followed suit, moving the ball at will after failing to find any semblance of rhythm to start the game. Like a jukebox needle, the Hoosiers found their groove after the first quarter, scoring 47 unanswered points to run the Spartans and their fans out of their own stadium, 47-10.
“It was a pretty dominant win,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said postgame. “Forty-seven straight points, on the road, against a really good football team. We took the crowd out of the game early.”
The Hoosiers are 9-0 for the first time ever and Cignetti is the winningest first-year head coach in program history. Rourke didn’t miss a beat behind center, completing 66% of his passes for 263 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions while not taking a sack.
“They played some great defense in those first two drives, but we have a lot of great guys on our offense,” Rourke said postgame. “We just needed to settle down and stick to the game plan.”
Elijah Sarratt continued his successful season as Rourke’s favorite target, catching four passes for 59 yards and two touchdowns while Miles Price and Zach Horton also found paydirt through the air. Ke’Shawn Williams had a team-best six catches for 86 yards, including a 14-yard reception that kickstarted the Hoosiers’ first touchdown drive. Michigan State held Indiana to just 23 rushing yards in the first quarter, but the Hoosiers’ ground game still managed to rack up 122 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 3.8 yards per carry.
Nothing went right for Michigan State after the first 15 minutes of action. After out-gaining Indiana 128-52 in the first quarter, the Hoosiers dwarfed the Spartans’ offensive production by 256 yards in the final three stanzas. Mikail Kamara dominated up front, contributing seven tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. As a team, Indiana racked up 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks. It held Michigan State to 27 total yards in the second half, all of which came in the third quarter.
“That’s really impressive,” Cignetti said. “I don’t know if I've ever seen those kinds of numbers on a team that I’ve coached. That’s a great credit to our defensive players and staff. They got after it up front.”
Cignetti continued, nodding his head.
“Wow,” he said. “It got pretty dominant there at one point.”
Michigan State’s 10-0 first-quarter advantage represented Indiana’s first minutes trailing in nine games this season. It responded with 47 unanswered points, dispelling any worries about responding to adversity.
“Now we all know how we’re going to respond when we’re down,” Cignetti said. “The whole team has an edge about them — they’re relentless. They continue to play consistently, never perfect, and they’re never satisfied.”
No. 13 Indiana will continue its rise amongst the national ranks and is primed to see its name when the College Football Playoff committee releases its first rankings on Tuesday night. The Hoosiers will look to win their 10th consecutive game when they host the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium on Nov. 9.
