IU Insider Zach Osterman recaps Indiana’s 38-35 win over Western Kentucky on Saturday night, a win built on big plays from surprising players, and a powerful run game.
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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 worldwide .
Doughty, aside from the turnovers, guided the offense efficiently as well, completing 35 of 46 passes for 484 yards and three scores.
But Howard has simply picked up where Coleman left off. The 6-1, 230-pound power rusher has rushed for more than 100 yards in each of IU’s first three games and is a runner who appears to get stronger as the game wears on.
Indiana plays its first road game at Wake Forest.
For the third time this season, Indiana trailed at halftime.
First they will have to rely on quarterback Brandon Doughty who ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit referred to as the best kept secret in college football this year, while those in Bowling Green, KY know all too well what this kid is capable of. The Hilltoppers also had a field goal blocked. Griffin Oakes kicked a 27-yard FG for the Hoosiers, but Doughty and Taywan Taylor connected on a 78-yard TD pass with 35 seconds left to send the Hilltoppers into the half with a 28-17 lead.
“The first (interception) I thought we had a touchdown but we just kind of underthrew it and led it inside”, said Western Kentucky coach Jeff Brohm. The first two touchdowns were set up by interceptions from true freshman safety Jonathan Crawford. Sudfeld will take aim at a Western Kentucky defense that just allowed 580 yards to Louisiana Tech, while Howard has been a revelation in his Hoosier debut.
The Hilltoppers kicked off, and never touched the ball again. The punt went deep to the 9-yard line, Paige received ample blocking and ran down the Hoosier sideline for the touchdown. “He misread a little bit, but that’s adversity. It’s football. We’ve just got to bounce back from things like that”.
Indiana stuck to its script in a shootout between prolific offenses, turning a halftime deficit into a second-half comeback for the third consecutive week. With Allen’s backup already hurt, WKU will likely hand the majority of the backfield touches to D’Andre Ferby, who was slated to be third on their depth chart coming out of the summer. On the game’s final drive with Indiana clinging to a three-point lead and trying to run out the clock, Howard carried the ball seven times for 39 yards.
But needing some sort of stop – any sort of stop – WKU’s defense surrendered to Indiana’s rushing attack.
“That was tough”, Taylor said. With two wins already, the Hoosiers can complete a ideal stretch when they host Western Kentucky on Saturday.
PASS RUSH NEEDED: If we’re talking about that pass defense, then some blame has to be placed on a front line that, for the second time in three games, couldn’t provide enough pressure to force bad throws. “You can not sit on the ball with a team like that”.
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WKU broke through with a 14-play, 86-yard scoring drive to open the fourth quarter, but by then IU had established a running game. He had five games where he threw five touchdown passes or more with a high of eight against Marshall. Wilson hasn’t been shy about praising that group of young defensive backs.
