Like with Tevin Coleman and D’Angelo Roberts past year , IU has great depth again in the backfield.
Advertisement
The teams combined for 1,207 yards – the bulk of which came through the air. Saturday, he ran for 155 yards in the second half including 82 in the fourth quarter. “I guess the defense just gets exhausted of tackling me for the power I’m giving them”.
Indiana transfer running back Jordan Howard leads the Big Ten in rushing with an average of 152 yards per game and ranks fifth nationally. IU’s quarterback Nate Sudfield did some good work as well, finishing with 355 yards and three touchdown passes. “The confidence is very high, but we know there are things to improve”, Howard told reporters.
After starting the season 2-0 including a win over Vanderbilt in Nashville, the Toppers are more confident than ever that they can get the job done against an Indiana team that is also undefeated.
Defense has been a struggle for the Hoosiers in the first two games of the season, allowing FCS foe Southern Illinois to rack up 47 points in the season-opener and surrendering more than 400 yards of total offense in last week’s bout with Florida global . Bill Lynch and Indiana would win the follow-up game in Bowling Green, Kentucky two years later, capping off a stretch of three seasons that saw the Hilltoppers win 4 games, including a winless season in 2009.
“I don’t think we punted, so I don’t think we really stopped in the second half”, Brohm said.
Doughty completed 35 of 46 passes for 484 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. It was the second time that the Hoosiers had trailed by 11 points at the break.
After an empty IU drive late in the first quarter, Western Kentucky went 90 yards in 13 plays, taking its first lead of the day on a two-yard run by Ferby, who bounced off initial contact and ran two yards for the score.
But the trademark for Indiana this season has been good third-quarter players. But Jonathan Crawford picked him off twice in the third quarter, and Indiana got a stop that led to a blocked field goal as well, shutting out WKU – the best offense IU has faced yet – for 15 minutes.
They were outscored 21-0 in the third quarter in a 38-35 defeat.
“I hope that it’s not bad”, coach Jeff Brohm said. I think our guys understand, for us, for our schedule, regardless of who we play, there’s not much margin for error.
And IU continues to be opportunistic. In the last two games, five opponent turnovers have led to five Hoosier touchdowns. Before the Hoosier offense could even touch the ball, junior receiver Mitchell Paige returned the punt 91 yards for an IU touchdown. The first was a 36-yard touchdown toss to Paige and the other a 23-yard pass to Simmie Cobbs. Indiana’s defense needs to play with more efficiency against Western Kentucky. IU seemed poised to match the Hilltoppers when it opened its next possession with a 69-yard pass from Sudfeld to Jones, but the Hoosiers stalled at the WKU 10 and settled for a 27-yard field goal from Griffin Oakes.
The running game for Western Kentucky has been a sweet spot for nearly a decade having seen the likes of Allen, Antonio Andrews (Tennessee Titans), and Bobby Rainey (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) having success so Ferby should give fans a glimpse of the future while Davis looks to run past his former teammates.
Advertisement
The Hilltoppers’ only points of the second half came with just under six minutes remaining in the game in the form of a three yard touchdown pass from Doughty to senior Jared Dangerfield.
