Curt Cignetti's Biggest Takeaways After Indiana's Dominant Win Over Rutgers

Indiana football passed its first road test of the season with little trouble Saturday night, rolling past Rutgers 47-15 at SHI Stadium to improve to 5-0.

Following the win, Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti met with reporters to discuss Indiana's offensive explosion, a dominant defensive effort and the health of his two leading running backs.

Here are the biggest takeawys from Cignetti's postgame press conference.

Indiana's backfield wasn't quite at full strength entering Saturday

Despite combining for 326 rushing yards against Rutgers, there was some uncertainty surrounding the availability of running backs Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe throughout the week.

Richard entered Saturday's contest after being listed as probable on Indiana's midweek availability report, while Beebe was listed as a game-time decision entering Saturday night.

"We had good news on Turbo, and we felt confident about him," Cignetti said. "Beebe kind of came up with something midweek, and there was some concern, but after about 24 hours we felt pretty good about him."

Whatever concerns Indiana had entering the weekend certainly didn't show on the field. Richard set a career high with 204 rushing yards, while Beebe added 122 of his own. Both found the end zone as the Hoosiers' two-headed rushing attack continued its impressive start to the season.

Cignetti liked what he saw from Indiana's defense

Indiana's defense entered Saturday facing a Rutgers offense with plenty of weapons, particularly in the passing game. Cignetti admitted he was concerned about the possibility of getting into a shootout on the road.

Instead, Indiana's defense largely kept the Scarlet Knights in check.

"I thought our defense was tremendous in shutting them down until the end when the game was in hand," Cignetti said.

Rutgers converted just two of its 14 third-down attempts and while the Scarlet Knights found some late success through the air, Cignetti wasn't particularly concerned with the second-half performance given the circumstances.

Indiana avoided the mistakes Cignetti feared

One of Cignetti's biggest concerns entering Saturday wasn't necessarily Rutgers' personnel. It was how Indiana would handle its first road environment of the season.

With Rutgers advertising a sold-out blackout at SHI Stadium, Cignetti spent much of the week emphasizing the importance of avoiding pre-snap penalties and self-inflicted mistakes.

"This game the whole week was about how loud it would be," Cignetti said. "I was concerned about false starts and going on the road and doing things. Before you win it, you can't lose it, and that was great to see."

Indiana finished the night without a penalty.

Kellan Wyatt is working his way back into form

Indiana's defensive front has benefited from the return of Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt, though Cignetti acknowledged the two weren't necessarily at the same point in their respective recoveries.

"Daley, I think, was a little further ahead than Kellan when they came back," Cignetti said. "Now Kellan's starting to round back into form."

Cignetti isn't worried about Nicolas Radicic

It was an uncharacteristically difficult start for Indiana kicker Nicolas Radicic, who missed an extra point and a field goal before eventually connecting from 48 yards.

Cignetti joked that the misses reminded him of a game during his time at James Madison when his record-setting kicker missed three short field goals in a one-point loss.

"When [Radicic] missed that extra point and then the field goal, I had a flashback," Cignetti said. "Then he drilled that 48-yarder. He'll be fine."

Radicic's ability to bounce back with a successful attempt from distance should help ease any immediate concerns about his performance.

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