Report Card: Hoosiers Sparkle, Even Under the Lights

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.. — Just a year ago, Northwestern won eight straight conference games and claimed the Big Ten West title. My, how times have changed. This year, it’s Indiana that’s starting to be the feel-good story in the conference and the Wildcats have completely lost their way, especially offensively.

All of that added up to an easy win under the lights for Indiana on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. The Hoosiers won 34-3 for their fourth straight conference win and are now 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the league. They ran the table with four in row between their two bye weeks, and will now catch their breath and prepare for No. 5 Penn State on the road in two weeks.

Here’s how the Hoosiers graded out in my ninth Report Card of the season:

Rushing offense: B-plus

Stevie Scott was a workhorse Saturday night, getting 26 carries for 116 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He runs hard, finds those extra yards and really battles. He averaged 4.5 yards a carry against a Northwestern defense that, despite its record, actually defends the run pretty well.

Not much else really worked in the run game, though, including a few sweeps and quarterback keepers. The rest of the IU crew ran 25 times for just 28 yards. This group is good, but there’s still room for improvement, especially with Penn State and Michigan next up on the schedule.

Passing offense: A

The quarterback dance for Indiana continues, as Michael Penix Jr. returned after missing nearly two full games with an injury, but he didn’t make it to halftime, forced to leave again after getting “dinged up,’’ according to coach Tom Allen.

Both were sensational. Penix was 10-for-15 for 162 yards, and the Hoosiers scored points in four of his first five possessions. Ramsey was 7-for-10 for 108 and a score, a pass out into the flat to running back Stevie Scott for a 20-yard score. Hopefully this bye week will get Penix 100 percent healthy, because the Hoosiers need him. Ramsey is a good, solid college quarterback and Indiana can win with him, but Penix, when healthy, is something really special. That was obvious early in this game.

Rush defense: A-minus

It was a point of emphasis all week for the Indiana defense to get off to a good start, and the group did just that, both early and all night long. Allowing only three points all night is special, and it starts up front, controlling the line of scrimmage.

Indiana did that, allowing only 87 yards on 28 carries, a solid 3.1-yard average. Even bigger, they forced two fumbles early and that completely swung the field position game. Northwestern never had a chance. The run fits were good all night and the tackling was solid.

Pass defense: A-plus

Northwestern’s quarterbacks have been struggling all season, and now we see why. Indiana had probably its most complete game defending the pass, never allowing the Wildcats to get going through the air. The pass rush good — just one sack (Allen Stallings), but plenty of pressure all day.

Northwestern was just 12-for-31 passing and neither starter Aiden Smith or backup Hunter Johnson could do anything through the air. They passed for a combined 112 yards and had only one play longer than 20 yards. That’s complete domination by the Hoosiers.

Special teams: A

Kicker Logan Justus nailed two more field goals to remain perfect at 12-for-12 on the season. His 12 straight kicks are the second-longest streak in school history behind only Austin Starr, who made 15 in a row in 2007. And Hayden Whitehead did another nice job of burying punts.

Another solid performance by this group all night. Coverage units were very good, too. They need to be difference-makers coming up as Indiana goes hunting for upsets against top-15 teams.

Coaching: A

Indiana’s offense went over 30 points for the sixth game in a row and the eighth time in nine tries this season, with the only blemish coming in the loss to No. 3 Ohio State. Massive credit goes to offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer, who has a great feel for his talent and does a wonderful job calling plays. For comparitive purposes, Indiana scored over 30 only two times in Big Ten games a year ago. This is so much better, and fun to watch.

Credit goes out to defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, too He challenged his group to start better, and they did just that, forcing turnovers on the first play of two Northwestern possessions in the first quarter. Northwestern could never recover from that. The Hoosiers defense was aggressive all night and well-prepared.

Intangibles: B

The numbers say it all. Winning four straight Big Ten games hasn’t happened since 1993. Getting that seventh win and securing a winning season means something, because that hasn’t happened since 1993.

The Hoosiers are taking care of business, beating teams they haven’t beaten in the past. That’s 7-2 now on the season, and it’s been a lot of fun. Still much more to accomplish, obviously, but Saturday night proved once again that the Hoosiers are a team on the rise.

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