Indiana’s first road game of the season was a dominant effort.
The Hoosiers controlled Rutgers from the jump Saturday night at SHI Stadium, building a 23-0 halftime lead before pulling away for a 47-15 win. Indiana improved to 5-0, moved to 2-0 in Big Ten play and extended its program winning streak to 21 games.
After a tight win over Northwestern a week earlier, Indiana responded with its most complete offensive performance of the season. The Hoosiers finished with a season-high 593 yards while Rutgers managed just 254.
Here are five takeaways from Indiana’s road win:
Indiana’s ground game is becoming its greatest strength
For as talented as Indiana is at quarterback and wide receiver, its offense has been powered by the ground game through the first two weeks of Big Ten play.
Indiana has now outrushed Northwestern and Rutgers 600-91 across its first two conference games. The Hoosiers ran for 271 yards against the Wildcats and added 329 more Saturday night while holding Rutgers to just 59.
A week after Lee Beebe Jr. rushed for a career-high 203 yards against Northwestern, Turbo Richard took the reins.
Richard, who entered the week coming off a lower-body injury, looked anything but limited. He needed just 13 carries to rush for a career-high 204 yards and a touchdown, averaging nearly 16 yards per attempt. Beebe added 122 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
It gives Indiana consecutive games with a 200-yard rusher and raises the possibility that the Hoosiers could accomplish something familiar.
Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black both surpassed 1,000 rushing yards during Indiana’s national championship season, making the Hoosiers the only FBS team with two 1,000-yard rushers. Through five games this season, Richard is already at 587 yards and Beebe has 520. If both remain healthy, Indiana has a legitimate chance to produce another pair of 1,000 yard rushers.
Josh Hoover’s clean start continues
There have been individual throws Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover would like back through five games. Though, there still has not been an interception.
Hoover put together arguably his most complete performance as a Hoosier against Rutgers, completing 20-of-27 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns. He completed his first 10 passes and looked comfortable from Indiana’s opening possession.
One of the most encouraging plays came when Hoover hit Charlie Becker in stride for 48 yards downfield. Those were the type of throws Indiana left on the field against Northwestern, but Hoover and Becker connected when another opportunity presented itself Saturday.
Hoover now has 15 touchdown passes and zero interceptions through five games. The explosive rushing attack has prevented Indiana from needing him to carry the offense, but when Rutgers committed toward stopping the run, Hoover consistently made it pay.
Five games in, protecting the football has become one of the defining traits of his start at Indiana.
Indiana’s collection of skill-position talent was on full display
It wasn’t just Richard and Beebe.
Rutgers also had to deal with Becker and Nick Marsh and the Scarlet Knights never found an answer for all four at once.
Marsh caught seven passes for 120 yards and a touchdown, while Becker finished with eight receptions for 107 yards and a score. Add those numbers to Richard’s 204 rushing yards and Beebe’s 122, and Indiana finished the night with two 100-yard rushers and two 100-yard receivers. All four found the end zone.
It speaks to what makes Indiana difficult to defend. The Hoosiers don’t need one player to dominate touches every week. Beebe carried the offense when Richard went down against Northwestern. Richard exploded against Rutgers. Marsh and Becker both demanded attention outside while Hoover distributed the football.
Indiana finished with 593 yards despite running just 68 plays. Its offense didn’t need the volume as it simply had too many ways to create explosive plays.
The defense controlled the game before Rutgers found any life
Indiana’s defensive performance looks different when separating the first two-and-a-half quarters from what followed.
For most of the night, Bryant Haines’ unit overwhelmed Rutgers. Indiana led 23-0 at halftime and eventually stretched the margin to 37-0. Rutgers finished with only nine first downs, went 2-for-14 on third down and rushed for 59 yards.
The defensive front was particularly disruptive. Stephen Daley recorded two sacks, while Tobi Osunsanmi added another as Indiana consistently made Rutgers play from behind the chains. Rutgers entered the night averaging more than 150 rushing yards per game, but never established its ground game.
Indiana also accomplished the primary challenge facing its secondary: limiting KJ Duff. The 6-foot-6 receiver entered Saturday with 550 yards and seven touchdowns through four games. Indiana held him to 78 yards and kept him out of the end zone for the first time this season.
The secondary still needs to put together four complete quarters
The final score was never seriously in doubt when Rutgers finally began finding success through the air.
Still, it was another reminder of what Indiana needs to clean up as the schedule gets more difficult.
Rutgers connected on passes of 35, 41 and 53 yards and put together consecutive touchdown drives of 75 and 72 yards in the second half. Jaylen Bell, who has continued to play an increased role with A.J. Harris sidelined, was beaten on the 53-yard touchdown.
Context matters. Indiana was already comfortably ahead and the Hoosiers had done their job against Duff. But it comes one week after Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles threw for 293 yards and helped the Wildcats score on each of their final four possessions.
For the second consecutive week, Indiana kept an opponent scoreless in the first half before allowing significantly more through the air after halftime.
That doesn’t erase what was an otherwise dominant performance. Indiana held Rutgers to 254 total yards and 15 points while cruising through its first road game.
But with a trip to Nebraska next Saturday followed by Ohio State coming to Bloomington, the margin for explosive plays will continue to shrink. Indiana has shown what its defense can look like at its best.
The next step is sustaining it for four quarters.
(Photo credit: IU Athletics)
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Source: www.insidethehall.com
