IU came into its road matchup at Northwestern looking to move past losses in the previous two weeks, but instead were punched in the mouth from the start.
The Wildcats scored two touchdowns on their first two possessions, and finished the first quarter with 192 total yards. NU quarterback Clayton Thorson and running back Justin Jackson both benefited well from an offensive line that gave Thorson time to find his man and Jackson time to find the holes he needed to break out big runs.
Through 15 minutes, Thorson had 122 yards through the air and Jackson had 55 on the ground.
The Hoosiers went three-and-out twice to start the game, only finding success on its third drive as junior quarterback Richard Lagow went to the air and took IU down inside the NU five-yard line. IU stalled, however, and had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by junior kicker Griffin Oakes.
The first quarter ended with Northwestern leading IU, 14-3.
The second quarter didn’t start off any better for the Hoosiers. Northwestern’s Thorson recorded his third touchdown pass of the half on the first play of the quarter to extend NU’s lead to 21-3.
Lagow then threw an interception on the Hoosiers’ following drive, and although the Wildcats drove and pushed into Hoosier territory, the IU defense held strong at its own 34 and forced a punt.
The Hoosiers would turn the ball over on downs again on their next drive, this time on downs, as IU drove deep into Northwestern territory and elected to go for it on fourth-and-one at the NU 25. Lagow found senior receiver Mitchell Paige, but Paige didn’t get enough for the first down.
Lagow would finish the first half with 12 completions on 22 attempts, 83 yards and an interception.
Northwestern's offense had two more chances to score before the half. The Wildcats failed to convert a fake field goal on fourth down at the IU 16-yard line, but after forcing another Hoosier punt, drove to the IU goal line and kicked a field goal as time expired.
At the half, Northwestern led 24-3.
The Hoosiers stepped up in the third quarter and outscored the Wildcats 9-0. The defense held strong and kept Northwestern from gaining much ground, while the offense took two drives deep into Wildcat territory and came away with a touchdown and a field goal.
Griffin Oakes connected from 30 yards out to cut the Northwestern lead to 24-6, his second made field goal out of as many attempts thus far.
The Hoosiers would then squander great field position provided by a Ricky Jones blocked punt with a three-and-out, but, after another defensive stop forced a punt, IU drove and sophomore receiver Nick Westbrook ran it in himself for his first career rushing touchdown.
A failed two-point conversion attempt followed, but IU had cut the deficit to 24-12 by the end of the third quarter.
Neither offense was able to do much of anything in the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers came closest, twice, to scoring. First, at the beginning of the fourth quarter an IU drive ended with an Oakes’ missed field goal from 53 yards out.
Then, as the clock wound down in the game and IU at the NU six-yard line, Lagow missed senior receiver Ricky Jones in the end zone on fourth down and Northwestern took the ball over on downs.
Northwestern would take a safety instead of punting out of its own end zone, but that would do it for today's scoring.
Northwestern defeated IU 24-14 to improve to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten while IU dropped to 3-4 and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
Jordan Guskey
