Report Card: Indiana dominates Rutgers in an impressive way
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Any time you win a Big Ten game, it’s a good thing. And when you shut out a conference opponent? Well, that’s even better.
Indiana crushed Rutgers 35-0 on Saturday to go to 4-2 on the season and 1-2 in the Big Ten. It wasn’t perfect, but it was close, and the Hoosiers did a lot of good things on both sides of the ball.
Here’s how the Hoosiers graded out in my sixth Report Card of the season:
Rushing offense: A-plus
There’s one word that jumps out after watching Indiana’s run game on Saturday — Finally! The Hoosiers’ running game, which has been mostly average this season, had a breakout performance on Saturday, rushing for 260 yards. Sophomore Stevie Scott led the way with 164 yards on just 12 carries.
Big plays have been missing in the IU running game for most of the season, but Scott had two long runs Saturday, one for 31 yards and another for 57. The Indiana offensive line was so good, that they got the game ball from head coach Tom Allen. It meant a lot too. Check out that video:
Passing offense: B
Michael Penix Jr. was good but not great on Saturday. He did complete 20 of 29 passes for 282 yards, but he also threw a bad interception and missed an easy touchdown when he underthrew a wide open Whop Philyor.
The good far outweighed the bad, though. Philyor, tight end Peyton Hendershot and wide receiver Nick Westbrook all caught touchdown passes. Philyor had a double-digit reception day (10) for the second game in a row, the first time an Indiana receiver had ever done that. Philyor is No. 10 in the country in catches per game at 6.8.
Rush defense: A
Indiana’s rush defense keeps getting better and better, especially as younger guys see more action up front and everyone stays rested and ready. They were very good against Rutgers’s explosive running back Isaih Pacheco, who was held to just 3.1 yards per carry.
What was much better too was the tackling. They wrapped up well at every level and never gave Rutgers a chance to get going. Even the one time they threatened, making it all the way to the IU 24, the Hoosiers forced them into three negative plays in a row and the Scarlet Knights had to turn the ball over on downs.
Pass defense: A-plus
Indiana allowed only 1 yard passing on 5 completions on Saturday, which almost seems impossible. Rutgers’ longest reception was for 4 yards and even their completed screen passes got blown up quickly, which had been a point of emphasis all week in practice.
The coverage and scheme were very good, obviously, but was really nice to see was the pass rush, which generated 6 sacks after having only 10 in the first five games. Demarcus Elliott’s strip sack and fumble recovery for a touchdown by Reakwon Jones on the first play of the game was huge, because it flipped momentum immediately. Indiana is currently ranked No. 10 in the country in passing yards allowed at just 161.8 yards per game.
Indiana had six sacks on Saturday, their highest total of the season.
Special teams: B-minus
Coverage teams were mostly good and kicker Logan Justus remains perfect on the season, making all five extra points. He’s now 7-for-7 on field goals and 23-for-23 on extra points. Hayden Whitehead averaged 43 yards on his four punts. That’s the good news.
The bad news is we almost had another catastrophe in the punt return game. It’s hard to be mad at Whop Philyor, because he’s been so awesome as a wide receiver, but he botched another punt again on Saturday that could have been a safety — or even a Rutgers touchdown. He tried to field a bouncing punt that went over his head and before he knew it, he was in the end zone, surrounded. Because he had signaled for a fair catch, IU got the ball at the 2-yard line instead. This stuff just can’t keep happening.
Coaching: A-plus
When you outgain a team 557 yards to 75, you’ve got to give a lot of credit to coach Tom Allen and his two coordinators, Kalen DeBoer and Kane Wommack. Both groups were exceptional and this team was clearly well prepared. The Hoosiers definitely seem to play like they practice, so it was obvious that preparation was good after the bye week.
Intangibles: A
We talked about it earlier, and it’s so true. Indiana took care of business, winning a game it was supposed to win. They did what they had to do. It’s the little things that matter and we keep seeing good things happen. The offensive line has responded nicely after losing Coy Crunk, and that’s a huge bonus. And the defense just keeps getting better, picking up checks and audibles much better. It’s all good, and now it starts to really get interesting.
