Indiana came away with a 29-23 win over Northwestern on Friday night in Bloomington, but the Hoosiers also left the field with a couple of injuries that could matter moving forward.
Running back Turbo Richard went down in the first half after being tackled out of bounds and limped off. He never returned. IU coach Curt Cignetti didn’t have an update on Richard afterward.
“We’ll find out,” Cignetti said. “You hate to see that happen to a good player, who was playing really well. But he’ll do everything he can to get back as soon as possible.”
Cignetti was also frustrated with how the play was handled.
“Late hit, hip drop, penalty not called which was consistent early in the game,” Cignetti said. “Penalties on their side not called. Penalties on us, mysterious penalties being called.”
Before exiting, Richard had nine carries for 68 yards.
His absence thinned Indiana’s running back room even further. The Hoosiers had only three scholarship backs available after Richard was hurt, and they used just one of them the rest of the way. Lee Beebe, Jr. handled the load, finishing with 24 carries for 203 yards and a touchdown.
Indiana then took another hit late in the fourth quarter when starting linebacker Rolijah Hardy was injured while trying to make a tackle. He did not return, though he was attended to by trainers and walked off under his own power with no noticeable limp.
Hardy had eight tackles before leaving the game.
Veteran linebacker Jeff Utzinger stepped in for him.
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