A displeased Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti stood near the north end of the Merchants Bank Field turf for his halftime interview Saturday. Cignetti sighed and subtly shook his head as NBC Sports’ Caroline Pineda asked about redshirt senior quarterback Josh Hoover’s first half performance.
His team entered Saturday’s contest against Western Kentucky University as heavy favorites. The Hilltoppers were 0-2 and surrendered 119 total points in their first two games. But the Hoosiers were held scoreless in the first quarter against Western Kentucky University.
“We’ve got to play better,” Cignetti said to Pineda.
The Hoosiers then responded to their coach’s request.
After entering the half with a 14-0 lead, Indiana’s offense looked more explosive in the game’s final two quarters. The Hoosiers exited Memorial Stadium with a 38-0 victory over Western Kentucky, ending the team’s nonconference schedule 3-0.
Indiana’s offense got its first opportunity Saturday with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first quarter. The Hoosiers drove to the Western Kentucky 36-yard line, but Hoover threw too high for an open junior receiver Charlie Becker on third and nine. A missed field goal followed.
“I think we came out a little slow; slower than we wanted to come out,” Becker said postgame.
Hoover connected with sophomore wide receiver Davion Chandler for a 26-yard touchdown on their next drive in the second quarter, but offensive mistakes persisted. The Indiana quarterback missed an open junior wide receiver Nick Marsh on two separate occasions in the second quarter.
While Indiana’s defense held Western Kentucky scoreless all game, its first half performance was far from perfect. The Hilltoppers reached the Indiana 2-yard line on their second series but turned the ball over on downs after an incompletion on fourth down. Western Kentucky outpaced Indiana in first quarter yardage 77-54.
A moment to recollect was needed for the Cream and Crimson in the halftime locker room.
“I just talked to them, like, ‘Hey, let's play our game and relax and play like we can play,’” Cignetti said postgame.
Despite the lackluster start, Indiana entered its halftime break with recent momentum. Redshirt senior linebacker Isaiah Jones intercepted Western Kentucky redshirt junior quarterback Brock Glenn with just over one minute remaining in the second quarter. Jones returned the ball down to the Western Kentucky 3-yard line.
“Football is just a game where people feed off energy, no matter who you’re playing,” Jones said. “If you can’t get off the field on third downs and you give them life, it breathes energy on their sidelines. I think that play just gave us the kind of energy we needed to get back on track, get back to our roots and play how we play.”
Following the interception, Indiana scored points on five of its final eight drives, including a 1-yard rushing touchdown by redshirt senior running back Lee Beebe Jr. before the half.
“Going into the halftime, we were all just — we were rallying around each other just saying ‘You know, we’re gonna pick it up. You know, we got this,’” Becker said postgame. “And we came up there and had a much better second half.”
After generating 205 total yards in the first half, the Hoosiers nearly reached that total in the third quarter alone. Hoover began with an 18-yard completion to Becker, before a 31-yard rushing gain by junior running back Turbo Richard. The Hoosiers’ drive ended in a field goal to extend their lead to 17-0.
On the first play of their ensuing possession, Hoover and Becker connected for a 79-yard touchdown through the air to give the Hoosiers 10 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter.
In addition to Hoover’s inaccuracies in the first half, Indiana struggled in the run game to open Saturday’s contest. The Hoosiers averaged just 3.4 yards per carry in the first half, accumulating 55 yards on the ground.
The second half forged a different trend.
The Hoosiers collected 178 rushing yards in the final two quarters, averaging over seven yards per carry.
Meanwhile, Indiana’s defense surrendered just 49 yards to the Hilltoppers after halftime, powering Indiana to the shutout victory.
Following the win, Cignetti joked with Indiana Athletic Director Scott Dolson as he walked into the Don Croftcheck Team Room for his postgame press conference. Cignetti approached the podium with a smile — a stark contrast to his stern halftime look. He took one sip of his light blue Gatorade before beginning his opening statement.
“Good win,” Cignetti said.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Elakai Anela (@elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
