BLOOMINGTON — There are only so many game balls a coach can give out, but after Indiana bested Washington, 31-17, Saturday afternoon, coach Curt Cignetti’s stash from the supply room should have been stretched.
The five members of the offensive line, standing like a fused-together rock, each deserved a compliment, if not a reward. But then, that leaves out the 11 members of the defense, who were the epitome of the word stalwart.
On a day when the Hoosiers relied on their second-string quarterback and the quick-strike electric jolts they have been routinely delivering to opponents were at a premium, they remained undefeated with the fundamentals.
In this story-book of a season, Indiana is a program-equaling best 8-0 for the first time since 1967 and is tied for first place in the Big Ten Conference at 5-0 with Oregon, the No. 1 ranked team in the country. IU remained at No. 13 in the latest poll for this week.
Offensively, with starting and star quarterback Kurtis Rourke sidelined by a thumb injury, IU relied on Tayven Jackson and the running game to put away the sturdy Huskies (4-4). The Hoosiers maintained their nationally compelling status in front of 53,082 fans, a second straight sellout of Memorial Stadium.
The sea of red in the stands, loudly supporting the quickly transformed team, boggled senior offensive lineman Mike Katic, a redshirt senior who was planning to leave for the pros until Cignetti convinced him it would be worth his while to stay one more year.
The 6-foot-4, 318-pound Katic is thrilled to still be residing in Bloomington to witness and be part of what the Washington game exemplified.
“It means everything,” Katic said. “I love this place with my whole heart.” He was pretty pleased with the way the running backs used the holes the linemen created. “We make the lanes. They make the plays.”
Players like sophomore Jackson, brother of recent former IU star basketball player Trace Jackson-Davis, who was never sacked, and running backs like Justice Ellison, who carried 29 times for 123 yards and a touchdown, showered the linemen with laudatory talk.
“Hats off to the offensive line,” said Ellison, a senior transfer from Wake Forest, who was a work horse in an offense that more often relies on the passing game.
Getting to 8-0 was not easy for the Hoosiers, a team that came in averaging 48.7 points a game, but scored a season-matching-low of 31 points. Jackson had not started all year and he was 11-for-19 throwing for 124 yards, featuring one picturesque 42-yard TD strike to Omar Cooper Jr. and running for a score himself.
“I feel like it could be a lot better,” Jackson said of his showing. “It’s been a while since I started a game. I just wanted to get out there and feel loose and comfortable.”
Even if the points came harder, leading 7-0 after one quarter and 17-7 at halftime, IU shocked the Huskies on big plays from different directions.
Mid-way through the first quarter, D’Angelo Ponds, a transfer from Cignetti’s old school of James Madison, picked off a Will Rogers pass and took it to the house, scooting 67 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Ponds turned the field into his own personal fishing pond, intercepting a second pass later.
The pass was tipped “and it came right to me,” Ponds said of the TD. “That’s the reason I came to the Big Ten, to go up against guys like that.”
Early in the fourth quarter, Myles Price gathered in a punt and broke free for a 65-yard return. That gave IU the ball on the Washington 14-yard line and a few plays later the score was 31-14.
“Good win,” Cignetti said. “There are no bad wins. Gutty way to win.”
Jackson did not exhibit the sharpness of Rourke, but Cignetti said the reason why IU shifted its offensive focus to more running was due to the Huskies own shift in defensive styles from that they had previously shown.
“They changed their tendencies on us quite a bit,” Cignetti said.
Washington, which reached the national championship game last year, then had to replace 21 of 22 starters, traveled from Seattle with a potent offense. Rogers was one of the top-ranked quarterbacks in the league, but threw those two interceptions and zero TD passes. Two of the league’s top pass catchers were contained. So was Jonah Coleman, who did accumulate 104 yards rushing, but many times was halted for minus, zero or no more than two yards.
“I would say the defense really saved us early in the game,” Cignetti said.
Usually, the Hoosiers spread rushes around a bevy of backs, but this was the 5-foot-9, 210-pound Ellison’s game. Cignetti said Ellison was terrific.
“If you’re going to keep giving it to me,” he said of his ball carrying, “I’m going to keep going.”
The same can be said of the Hoosiers, who have far exceeded outsiders’ expectations for Cignetti’s first season.
“We gutted it out,” Cignetti said. “Really good teams, championship teams, find ways to win games. “
Rarely has Indiana been characterized as a really good team, never mind a championship team.