Indiana left Rutgers with a lopsided win and, apparently, a little bit of frustration.
The Hoosiers rolled to a 47-15 victory at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey, but the night didn’t finish the way Curt Cignetti would have preferred. Indiana was on track for a shutout before a pair of second-half breakdowns opened the door for Rutgers touchdowns, turning what had been total control into something the head coach had to chew on afterward.
“You’d like to end that game a little better,” Cignetti said, a 32-point win in his pocket on Saturday night.
For most of the game, Indiana looked every bit the stronger team. The Hoosiers piled up 593 yards to Rutgers’ 254 and gashed the Scarlet Knights on the ground for 329 rushing yards. The box score was loaded with production, including two 100+ yard receivers and two 100+ yard runners.
Still, the finish left some film for Cignetti and his staff to dissect.
Rutgers’ first touchdown came quickly, in just three plays. Clay Thevenin broke off a 26-yard run, then a pair of penalties pushed the Scarlet Knights back 10 yards.
From there, AJ Surace found Ben Black III on a 53-yard pass, and Black III did the rest, finishing the play in the end zone. Jaylen Bell was the cornerback in coverage, and he lost the ball in the air and Black III shortly after.
It was a rough rep, but not the only issue on the sequence. Indiana had already allowed Rutgers to stay alive after Thevenin’s big run, and one mistake snowballed into another.
The second touchdown took more work. Rutgers needed 12 plays to move down the field, and Surace hit another chunk gain, this one a 35-yard throw over the middle with Preston Zachman and Byron Baldwin Jr. in coverage. KJ Duff added another big play before Thevenin finished the drive on the ground.
Even with those late lapses, Indiana controlled the game from start to finish in almost every other way. Josh Hoover’s deep connection with Charlie Becker was part of a night that gave the Hoosiers plenty to like. But those second-half miscues will stay in the conversation as Indiana moves deeper into its schedule.
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For Nebraska, this is the kind of game that can say a lot about where a season is headed, especially with other league contenders like Ohio State and Wisconsin also adding wins and the College Football Playoff picture beginning to take shape. Indiana has its own perfect record and plenty to protect, which makes this one of those early-season tests that can change the tone for both programs long before November arrives. [Read more 🡒]