Indiana Football Rolls 41-7 Against Overmatched Indiana State
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Well, that looked easy.
One week after mustering only three points against Ohio State, Indiana cruised to a 41-7 win over Indiana State on Friday night inside Memorial Stadium.
The sharp drop in competition level was clear from the opening kick. Indiana State got the ball first, and quickly went three-and-out. The IU offense turned around and marched 73 yards down the field in just four plays, capped off with a 25-yard touchdown from Jaylin Lucas.
The remainder of the first quarter was practically copy and paste. The second drive even ended the exact same way, with a 25-yard run from Lucas into the end zone. The Indiana State defense simply didn't have enough power up front or speed on the outside to contain him.
After going up 21-0, it looked like Indiana was en route to a 50-point shellacking of the visitors. But a fumble from Lucas that was returned 75 yards by Bloomington South's own Maddix Blackwell spoiled that dream.
Indiana had a myriad of sloppy plays from there. Punter James Evans finally saw the field after Brendan Sorsby missed a few targets. Multiple times the Hoosiers accidentally crashed into the Indiana State punter, and even two kickoffs from IU went sailing out of bounds.
Indiana coach Tom Allen said postgame these penalties were ridiculous, but he considers them fixable.
It was only 24-7 late in the third quarter, but much like last week's matchup vs. Ohio State, the game's result was never in doubt. Touchdowns from Christian Turner and Josh Henderson gave Indiana even more breathing room, and the defense finished the game without surrendering a single point to the Indiana State offense.
Quarterback Tayven Jackson will be the story of the game for most, though. The redshirt freshman from Center Grove High School finished the game 18-for-21 on passes for 236 yards. Jackson also ran in a 10-yard touchdown late in the first quarter on a quarterback draw for his first score as a Hoosier.
Sorsby finished the game completing 9-of-16 pass attempts for 108 yards, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. He ran the ball six times for 28 yards.
"I thought they both commanded the offense," Allen said. "They both threw the ball well. They ran the ball well. They made good decisions and got the ball sprayed around."
The reaction from Hoosier fans mid-game was predictable — Jackson should be the starter moving forward.
His first three drives were literally perfect by the standard of team success, and completing 85.7 percent of your passes is impressive no matter who the opponent is. Conversely, while Sorsby looked acceptable in his snaps, the offense wasn't as clean in his drives, and he overthrew quite a few receivers who were open deep. Most people wanted Jackson to start the moment he transferred to Indiana, and at this point, he has to be the odds-on favorite to win the job moving forward.
But the opponent has to be taken into consideration here. Not only is Indiana State an FCS team, but a bad FCS team. Indiana out-gained coach Curt Mallory's team in total yards 558-to-93, and two weeks into their 2023 season, the Sycamores' offense has still not scored a single point.
Allen was unwilling to name a starter in the postgame press conference, but said he and the staff will evaluate both games and make a decision from there.
"Our guys believe in both of them, to be honest with you, but at the same time you've got to have the guy," Allen said. "I really do believe that. I think that's important, so we will make that decision.
Regardless of who Indiana names starting quarterback for Week 3, they'll face an undefeated Louisville squad.
If the Hoosiers' first opponent of the season was a 10, and the second was a 1, then the third is a perfect 5. Louisville is a complete unknown under new coach Jeff Brohm at the moment. The Cardinals defeated an equally confusing Georgia Tech team 39-34 in Week 1, then dismantled Murray State 56-0 on Thursday.
While most consider Louisville a more talented squad than Indiana, they are a perfectly beatable opponent.
Indiana gets its chance against Louisville on Sept. 16 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
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