BLOOMINGTON— If Indiana University fans wanted suspense, they could have stayed home and watched “Law and Order” instead of attending Friday night’s Hoosier destruction of the worst college football team in America.
The 77-3 victory over Western Illinois added to the long-term woes of the Leathernecks, a school in Macomb, Illinois that is laying off all nine of its librarians by next spring, but apparently laid off its defense ahead of this game.
The point total is an all-time IU high, eclipsing a 76-0 triumph over Franklin College in 1901 and the Hoosiers collected 701 yards. There was no one still around at Memorial Stadium to compare the thoroughness of the two thumpings 123 years apart.
Freedman
IU scored so quickly it was like a basketball team on a perpetual fastbreak. Playing a no-huddle offense, anyway, sometimes there was no break long enough between IU touchdowns to go buy a hot dog or to hit the bathroom without missing action.
There have been times in recent seasons when Hoosiers fans might have thought they were rooting for the most inferior team in the country. But no, this is what the worst looks like. Western Illinois lost its 26th straight game. The team has not won since 2021 and finished 0-11 in both 2022 and 2023. Think Chicago White Sox bad.
It didn’t matter who new coach Curt Cignetti deployed for IU – and he played three quarterbacks and 12 guys had carries in the rushing game – as his squad moved to 2-0.
Starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke completed 15 out of 17 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Backup Tayven Jackson, a familiar name on this roster laden with recruits and transfers, went 3-for-3 for 104 yards and one touchdown. And that was when the Hoosiers, who entered the contest as 44 ½-point favorites — were trying not to score.
However, Western (0-2) displayed an open sesame defense that also permitted 323 yards on the ground led by Justice Ellison’s 117 yards and two TDs. Even fourth back Khobe Martin averaged 7.1 yards a carry on eight tries. The Hoosiers could not help themselves when it came to taking advantage of Western’s generosity.
As the clock ran down at the end, the Hoosiers were nearing the end zone again, which would have put their point total near the Indiana Fever’s on the night. The Fever was playing at the same time in Indianapolis and totaled 88 points. IU took a knee instead of another TD that would have thrust the score into the 80s.
It took Indiana 2 minutes, 7 seconds to score on its first possession in the first quarter, 2:22 for its second touchdown, nine seconds for its third, and IU led 21-0 after the first period and 42-3 at the half.
Defensively, linebacker Aiden Fisher, who was in on 12 tackles in the opener in the 31-7 win over Florida International, led the team again with nine tackles. Tyrique Tucker had one-and-a-half sacks. Two interceptions late near the Western end zone, by Rolijah Hardy and Ta’Derious Collins, contributed to the final margin.
This was the second dominating showing by the defense, though Cignetti, in typical football coach perfection mode, complained about allowing the field goal in the second quarter. It was tough to dissect anything else to kvetch about against the out-manned opponent.
“It was a good night because I was pleased that our team played with an edge and an attitude at a high standard, the ones I’m talking about, didn’t play down to the competition,” Cignetti said. “We emptied the bench pretty much and got a lot of people on the field, and I was happy for them, too, because we had a lot of young people make plays, create turnovers defensively.”
Eight players caught passes, no play being flashier than a 71-yard TD by Elijah Sarrat early. He shook off his defender, gathered in a sharp Rourke toss, and sprinted the distance as part of his six-catch, 137-yard night.
“I always like to get involved early,” said Serrat, a 6-foot-2, 209-pound junior, who is one of the many transfers who followed Cignetti from James Madison University.
Early or late, there is never a bad time for a 71-yard touchdown play.
The early reviews of the Cignetti administration stack up well, with two wins in two tries, albeit against cupcake competition, not league opponents. Next week requires a trip to California to face UCLA, one of those recent Big Ten Conference converts from the Pac-12, and certainly what will expected to be a stiffer tussle.
Defensive lineman Mikhail Kamara, a 6-1, 265-pound junior, a member of James Madison’s outstanding defense last year, pretty much shrugged off this IU early-campaign excellence as more of a sneak preview of what the Hoosiers can be.
“I don’t know what you guys think about our defense now,” Kamara said. “But I expect us to blow all that out the water. I expect us to really show everyone what this defense is about.”
Regardless of what is to come, it must be more fun than being a member of the Western Illinois defense, or being a Western Illinois librarian.