How to Watch Indiana's Matchup With Rutgers on Saturday
In this story:
Indiana travels to Piscataway, N.J. for a Noon ET kickoff against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday.
The Hoosiers have dropped four straight games to Cincinnati, Nebraska, Michigan and Maryland, and are desperate to reverse that trend. Indiana wasted prime opportunities to defeat Nebraska and Maryland to improve its bowl hopes, which now appear more and more slim by the week.
"There is a lot of hurting guys right now, frustrated guys right now and guys that want to create change," Indiana coach Tom Allen said. "The foundation of who you are gets exposed when things go wrong, and it also gets strengthened I think. It's an interesting process that you go through when difficulties arise in life and to a team. The very core of who you are, that has to be the foundation that you hold onto. That's your anchor when things are hard and when things are rough and when things are going against you."
- *** LIVE BLOG: And once the game starts, follow all the action on our live blog. To read that story, CLICK HERE.
How to watch Indiana Hoosiers vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Who: Indiana Hoosiers (3-4, lost 38-33 vs. Maryland in Week 7) vs. Rutgers (3-3, lost 14-13 vs. Nebraska in Week 6, bye week in Week 7)
- What: Indiana's third Big Ten East matchup
- When: Noon ET on Saturday, Oct. 22
- Where: SHI Stadium in Piscataway, N.J.
- TV: Big Ten Network
- Announcers: Cory Provus (play-by-play), Matt Millen (analyst), Elise Menaker (sideline)
- Stream: Watch fuboTV
- Radio: Indiana Hoosiers Sports Network, Sirius/Online: XM (381) // SXM App (971)
- Radio Announcers: Don Fischer (play-by-play), Rhett Lewis (analyst), Joe Smith, John Herrick
- Point spread: Rutgers is a 3-point favorite over Indiana, and the over/under is 48 points as of Friday afternoon, according to the SIsportsbook.com website.
- Season totals: Indiana's 2022 regular season win total over/under was 4 prior to their 23-20 win over Illinois in Week 1, according to the FanDuel Sportsbook.
- Last season's records: Indiana was 2-10 overall with a 0-9 record in Big Ten play in 2021. Rutgers was 5-8 with a 2-7 record in Big Ten play in 2021. Rutgers replaced Texas A&M, who was dealing with COVID-19, in the 2021 Gator Bowl. Wake Forest defeated Rutgers 38-10 in this game.
- Series history: Indiana leads the all-time series 5-3 with all matchups coming since 2014. Indiana won all five games from 2016 to 2020.
- Last meeting: Rutgers defeated Indiana 38-3 on Nov. 13, 2021 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. Donaven McCulley started the game at quarterback, but Grant Gremel and Jack Tuttle also took snaps in this game. McCulley completed 7-of-20 attempts for 98 yards and two fumbles. Gremel went 6-for-12 for 53 yards, and Tuttle went 5-for-10 with two interceptions. Charlie Spegal was Indiana's leading rusher at five carries for 14 yards, and Ty Fryfogle caught five passes for 51 yards. Raheem Layne led Indiana with nine tackles, and Aaron Casey added eight. After a McCulley fumble on the first snap of the game, Rutgers scored four plays later on an Isaih Pacheco rushing touchdown. Pacheco finished with 21 carries, 79 yards and two touchdowns. Noah Vedral started at quarterback for Rutgers, and completed 9-of-17 passes for 97 yards and a rushing touchdown. Bo Melton led the Scarlet Knights with five catches for 50 yards. All five Rutgers touchdowns came on the ground with two from Pacheco and one from Vedral, Aaron Young and Raiqwon O'Neal. Rutgers got out to a 14-0 lead in the fourth quarter, and Indiana had four turnovers and a missed field goal in the first half.
- Coaches: Greg Schiano is in the third year of his second head coaching stint at Rutgers. He previously coached the Scarlet Knights from 2001-11 with a 68-67 overall record, a 28-48 mark in Big East play and a 5-1 record in bowl games. Schiano went on to coach the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and served as the Ohio State Buckeyes' defensive coordinator before coming back to Rutgers for the 2020 season. Since his return, Rutgers has an 11-17 overall record, a 5-16 finish in Big Ten play and 38-10 loss to Wake Forest in the 2021 Gator Bowl. Tom Allen is entering his sixth season as Indiana's head coach with a 29-36 overall record 16-31 record in Big Ten play. His 29 wins rank seventh among all-time Indiana football coaches, behind John Pont's 31 wins from 1965-72. Allen's 26 wins over his first five seasons were tied for the most by a Hoosier head coach with the program's all-time winningest coach, Bill Mallory. Allen was the 2020 AFCA National Coach of the Year. He is 0-3 in bowl games, most recently losing 26-20 to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2, 2021.
- Weather: According to weather.com, at Noon ET in Piscataway, N.J. it's going to be 63 degrees and sunny with a 0 percent chance of rain and winds from the southwest at two miles per hour.
Maryland Terrapins defensive back Caleb Atogho (30) tackles Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Donaven McCulley (1) during the second quarter at Memorial Stadium.
Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Three things to watch from Indiana in Week 8
1. Find balance
Indiana's inability to consistently run the ball has too often led to a predictable, one-dimensional offense. Quarterback Connor Bazelak is second in the country with 337 pass attempts, but his 54.6 completion percentage ranks 119th among FBS quarterbacks and 13th in the Big Ten.
Indiana has one of the least-productive rushing attacks in the country, generating just 83 yards per game. Only Iowa, Temple, Colorado State, Boston College and Akron gain fewer rushing yards per game. On the other sideline, Rutgers has held opponents to 91.7 rushing yards per game, which ranks seventh among FBS teams.
The Hoosiers' uptempo style and perimeter screen game helps combat these rushing deficiencies, but offensive coordinator Walt Bell knows Indiana has to find success on the ground. For Bell, it starts at the point of attack.
“Until we can do that at a highly-functional rate,” Bell said. “We're not going to be as powerful as we could be, so that's a daily pursuit.”
Shaun Shivers has started all seven games in the backfield, but he frequently rotates with Josh Henderson and Jaylin Lucas. Shivers and Henderson each average 4.1 yards per carry, and Henderson has been extremely effective in the passing game with 13.4 yards per reception. Lucas is still developing as a true freshman, but he's made a number of electrifying runs this season.
2. Ready to adapt
It's more likely that Rutgers will rotate three quarterbacks on Saturday than stick with only one for the whole game. Due to injuries and unproductive play, the Scarlet Knights have cycled through Evan Simon, Noah Vedral and Gavin Wimsatt under center in search of the best option.
Simon has played by far the most in 2022, Vedral has a wealth of experience across six years of college football and Wimsatt was a four-star prospect beaming with potential when he joined Rutgers last season. Vedral started against Nebraska before Rutgers' bye week, but he completed just 6-of-15 passes. Simon threw three interceptions against Nebraska, and Wimsatt hasn't played since Sept. 17 against Temple due to injury.
For Indiana, this means preparing for every option and building a flexible plan of attack.
"The first couple series are going to be big," Allen said. "We're not really 100 percent sure what [quarterback] we're going to see. So we're going to have to be able to be really, really good coaches and adapt and adjust on the hoof and put a game plan together that has the ability to do that adaptation."
3. Finish in the fourth
Clutch performances in late-game scenarios were the story of Indiana's 3-0 start, but it's been quite the opposite down the stretch in four consecutive losses. Indiana rallied to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter at Nebraska, but the Hoosiers fell flat with two three-and-outs and a turnover on downs in the final 15 minutes.
Indiana was held scoreless in the second half for a second straight week against Michigan, and three sacks led to -12 total yards in the fourth quarter. Indiana clung to a three-point lead when Maryland quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa went down with an injury late in last week's game, but backup Billy Edwards Jr. ran wild to defeat the Hoosiers.
"I think we got too many guys that are just a little unsure maybe," Allen said. "We've got to eliminate the uncertainty in them and making sure they're playing with that level of confidence because it shows out in those critical plays at the end of a game."
Related stories on Indiana football:
- TOM ALLEN INTRIGUED BY JOSH SALES, KHALIL BENSON: Indiana football will continue to rotate personnel along the offensive line in search of the best combination, but coach Tom Allen is intrigued by the development of Josh Sales and Khalil Benson. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA HOPES D.J. MATTHEWS BACK TO EARLY-SEASON FORM: Indiana wide receiver D.J. Matthews has dealt with a hamstring injury for nearly a month, but coach Tom Allen is hopeful the big-play threat can return to early-season form on Saturday against Rutgers. CLICK HERE
- BLOOMINGTON NORTH'S AARON STEINFELDT CATCHES FIRST TD: Indiana tight end Aaron Steinfeldt, a Bloomington North High School graduate, made his first career start against Michigan, and his quick development proves he belongs in the Big Ten. CLICK HERE
- PREPARING FOR UNKNOWN QUARTERBACK: Rutgers has cycled through three quarterbacks this season due to injuries and unproductive play. Coach Greg Schiano said all three – Noah Vedral, Evan Simon and Gavin Wimsatt – will be available against Indiana on Saturday. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA WEEK 8 DEPTH CHART, INJURY NOTES: Heading into a Week 8 road trip to Rutgers for a Noon ET kickoff, here's the Indiana football depth chart and few injury updates. CLICK HERE
