No. 19 Indiana football’s 35-point first half guided the Hoosiers to a 63-10 victory over No. 9 Illinois Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
After a three-and-out on their opening drive, the Hoosiers contained the Illinois offense on the Fighting Illini’s second possession of the game and forced a fourth-down punt. Indiana junior defensive back D’Angelo Ponds broke through the Illinois punt-team front-line, blocked the punt and recovered the football before running into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.
On the ensuing Illinois drive, the Hoosier secondary miscommunicated, allowing Illinois redshirt sophomore wide receiver Collin Dixon to streak open down-field and secure a 59-yard touchdown to even the game at 7 points.
But the Indiana offense responded, as redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza found redshirt junior wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. on back-to-back completions. The second connection went for an 11-yard touchdown. Two Indiana drives later, Mendoza guided the Hoosiers down the field before completing a second 11-yard touchdown — this time to redshirt sixth-year senior wide receiver E.J. Williams Jr.
Owning a 21-7 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Hoosiers did not take their foot off the gas pedal in the first half. Redshirt sixth-year senior tight end Riley Nowakowski broke away on a screen pass, running the ball 43 yards for his second touchdown of the season. On the Hoosiers’ next possession, Mendoza completed a nine-yard touchdown to senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt to cap off Indiana’s explosive first half. Meanwhile, Illinois converted a 46-yard field goal as Indiana led 35-10 at halftime.
Following their high-scoring first-half, the Cream and Crimson strung together four more touchdown drives. Mendoza completed 21 of his 23 pass attempts, recording 267 passing yards and five touchdowns before exiting the game after the third quarter. Meanwhile, Sarratt led the Indiana receiving corps with nine catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns.
Indiana’s defense recorded seven sacks and 10 tackles-for-loss on the night, while limiting the Illinois offense to just 161 total yards.
Following its commanding ranked victory, Indiana will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, to take on Iowa for its first road game of the season. The matchup is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 27 and will be streamed on Peacock.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
