IU junior quarterback Nate Sudfeld’s message to his teammates was short but telling.
Prior to the start of IU’s game against North Texas, Sudfeld advised his receivers that they come out ready to play.
“I’m about to rip it,” Sudfeld told his teammates.
“He told us, and we were all like, ‘Alright,’” senior receiver Isaiah “Zeke” Roundtree said. “We knew it was coming.”
What was coming was a 23-of-29 passing performance from Sudfeld that saw him pass for 230 yards and three touchdowns, registering a 180.1 passer rating.
He led IU (3-2, 0-1) to a 49-24 win against North Texas (2-3), improving the Hoosiers’ non-conference record to 3-1.
One week after perhaps the worst game of his college career, Sudfeld was able to get the passing offense back in sync despite consistent wind gusts that IU Coach Kevin Wilson described as “cyclones” and cool temperatures.
“There was definitely an emphasis for me to get in rhythm this week and for me just to cut it, let the ball rip,” Sudfeld said. “That’s what I tried to do today and, with the wind, it was just a good mindset to have, just to cut it through the wind.”
The Mean Green entered Saturday’s contest holding opposing rushers to just 87.3 yards per game.
With that in mind, IU players and coaches knew North Texas would be narrowing in on stopping the Hoosier rushing attack led by junior Tevin Coleman and senior D’Angelo Roberts.
That meant the offense would be relying more on Sudfeld and the receivers to help carry an offense that was held to just 15 points against Maryland the week before.
The receivers were just fine with that game plan.
“As a wide receiver, we all want the ball,” Roundtree said. “So when he tells us we’re about the pass it, we all get excited. You run your routes a little harder. It’s exciting when you know you’re about to get the ball.”
After scoring 21 unanswered points to start the game, IU’s offense went scoreless in the second quarter.
Leading just 21-7 at halftime, Wilson said he didn’t want IU to come out stale in the second half.
At halftime Wilson said to his team that when they received the ball to start the second half, IU needed to drive down the field and score.
IU did just that.
The Hoosiers scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the second half while holding North Texas to just three points in the third quarter.
“We just came back at halftime and told them we’ve got to come out,” IU senior receiver Shane Wynn said. “We can’t come out flat. You’ve got to come out with a lot of energy, and that’s what we did.”
Wynn put an exclamation point on IU’s 21-3 scoring run in the third quarter with a 76-yard touchdown reception to put IU up 42-10, putting the game out of reach.
Wynn said after two drops last weekend, it felt good to be able to break the top off the defense again.
“The safeties came down,” Wynn said. “It so happened that they called the plays, and we executed them very well.”
Wynn finished with five catches for 127 yards and two touchdowns.
Roundtree caught six balls for 29 yards after freshman J-Shun Harris left in the first quarter with what Wilson described as “concussion-like symptoms.”
Seven IU players recorded with a reception Saturday, including the tight ends junior Anthony Cosaro and freshman Jordan Fuchs.
The improved passing game opened up the run game and, from there, the IU offense returned to the form the team expects it to play at.
“A lot of that goes to, again, (Sudfeld) today because it wasn’t an easy passing day,” Wilson said. “The structure of their team, they were going to make you do it, and that was a huge part of what was going on.”
