It was an overcast day in Bloomington, but that did not stop the stars from showing out on the field in Memorial Stadium, resulting in an emphatic 55-0 shutout against the Howard University Bison. The general consensus of Sansom Sports Media is these FCS games are dangerous and while a financial benefit for the FCS programs, they are games we would prefer not to be played. However, there are still plenty of takeaways, all with the caveat of this being a much lower level of competition. 

Offense

The Indiana offense looked unstoppable for most of the game on Saturday against an opponent that was clearly overmatched. Josh Hoover had another outstanding day, going 6-11 for 145 yards and four touchdowns, three of which Charlie Becker caught. Becker had another standout performance, as all three of his catches were touchdowns. He has seven catches this year, and five of them are touchdowns. In talking about Becker after the game, head coach Curt Cignetti said, “Hardest worker on the team. Prepares as well as anybody. Nobody prepares more. Goes hard every play. Goes hard in practice. He’s a really good special teams guy, too.” 

On the ground, it was a two headed attack for the Hoosiers. Lee Bebee Jr. ran 16 times for 112 yards, and Turbo Richard contributed 11 rushes for 108 yards and a touchdown. 

The only lingering question coming out of this game is the role of Nick Marsh. The star transfer did not get as many targets as I expected, even though he contributed two catches and a touchdown. He was also seen playing special teams, which was a little surprising. 

Defense

The defense pitched a shutout, and Rolijah Hardy had a pick six. It is always a good day when your defense scores more than they allow. The leading tacklers in this game were Hardy, Stephen Daley, and Isaiah Jones, each with five. Five is a low number, but it illustrates just how dominant the Hoosiers were on defense: there simply weren’t that many opportunities to make tackles, especially as they rotated guys later in the game. 

Injury Report

Kicker Nico Radicic was unable to go in this one, but Cignetti said after the game it was nothing major. This is something to monitor next week, but it seemed more precautionary today than anything else. Both of the starting corners, Jamari Sharpe and A.J. Harris, were unable to play as expected. If this was a Big Ten opponent,  we likely would have seen them on the field. All three of these Hoosiers will look to get back on the field next week against Western Kentucky University after a full week off to recover.

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Cover photo courtesy of Inside the Hall