No. 5 Indiana football escaped with a narrow 29-23 victory over Northwestern on Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
After a slow start that included two illegal snap penalties and a media timeout before the first snap, the Hoosiers settled in. Helped by a 33-yard rush by junior running back Turbo Richard and redshirt senior quarterback Josh Hoover’s three completions, Indiana drove into the redzone.
But the Cream and Crimson couldn’t capitalize. The Northwestern defense stopped Richard on a fourth-and-1 handoff from the 1-yard line to end the series.
Taking over at their own one, the Wildcats quickly gave the ball back to Indiana. Northwestern senior quarterback Aidan Chiles couldn’t field the first snap cleanly, and the Hoosiers tackled him in the endzone to notch a safety.
Up 2-0 and with the ball back, Indiana once again drove past midfield. However, the drive stalled after Hoover missed junior wide receiver Charlie Becker streaking down the field.
Following a three-and-out, Northwestern gave possession right back to Indiana. The Hoosiers’ nine-play, 51-yard drive ended in a 43-yard field goal by redshirt junior kicker Nico Radicic. The kick brought Indiana’s lead to 5-0.
The Wildcats — set up at their own 25-yard line — couldn’t score. They punted the ball back to the Cream and Crimson, who took advantage.
Hoover led the Hoosiers down the field, completing all six of his pass attempts and connecting with junior wide receiver Nick Marsh for an 8-yard touchdown — the first of the contest. Indiana took a 12-0 lead into the half.
After the two teams each punted to begin the third quarter, Northwestern sustained a drive. The Wildcats strung together a 10-play, 75-yard series, which ended in a 4-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Griffin Wilde on fourth-and-goal to get within eight.
Indiana marched downfield on its next series. But a Hoover incompletion on third down forced the Hoosiers to settle for a 22-yard field goal.
Northwestern followed Radicic’s field goal with another scoring drive. Chiles found rhythm, going 5-for-5 on the series with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Wilde. The Wildcats, down 15-13, tried a two-point conversion to tie the contest, but were unsuccessful.
The two teams continued to trade scores.
Indiana redshirt senior running back Lee Beebe Jr.’s 39-yard scamper set the Hoosiers up in the redzone. Beebe capped the series with a 4-yard rushing touchdown. Meanwhile, Chiles continued to thread Indiana’s defense. The signal-caller drove the Wildcats to Indiana’s 7-yard line before rushing for a touchdown to bring the score to 22-20.
But Beebe carried Indiana to a game-clinching drive with a 70-yard rush. Six plays later, Hoover kept it himself for a 1-yard touchdown run to extend Indiana’s lead to 29-20.
Northwestern followed with a field goal make, but it wasn’t enough as Indiana notched a 29-23 win.
After Richard exited with an injury, Beebe led Indiana with 24 carries for 203 yards and a touchdown. Hoover finished 19 of 29 passing for 201 yards and a touchdown.
Indiana will look to improve to 2-0 in Big Ten play against Rutgers at 8 p.m. Oct. 3 at SHI Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.
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.
