Fireworks abound in Hoosiers' 10-touchdown performance

Fred Glass wanted better fireworks at Memorial Stadium.

Boy, did he get fireworks.

After the Athletic Director’s new pyrotechnic system welcomed the team to the field for the 2013 season, the IU offense put on a bigger show than anyone could’ve
conceived.

IU shellacked, destroyed, ran over, dismantled, manhandled – whatever your verb of choice  – Indiana State 73-35 Thursday night in an impressive display of all the offensive weaponry IU Coach Kevin Wilson has built up for the year.

No, that was not the IU basketball team’s score against Indiana State. That’s the IU
football team’s result.

It was clear the offense would be good, but not 45 points in one half good.

Not a new Memorial Stadium record good.

Not the second most points scored in IU history good.

That’s just crazy good.

Junior wide receiver Shane Wynn scored a touchdown all three times he touched the ball.

Sophomore running back Tevin Coleman and senior tight end Ted Bolser each scored two touchdowns.

Sophomore quarterback Nate Sudfeld threw four touchdowns. He didn’t even start.

No, this game was not brought to you by EA Sports. It was played in real life.

Ten touchdowns?

The game out of hand by the middle of the second quarter?

It’s more than impressive.

Bolser was the first firework to shoot off, catching a 12-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Tre Roberson on IU’s third play from scrimmage.

The drive lasted 61 seconds.

IU’s next six scoring plays all took less than 83 seconds each.

Fireworks indeed.

Junior wide receiver Cody Latimer and senior wide receiver Kofi Hughes, two of IU’s starting wide receivers, didn’t even get a touch until the third quarter.

If the offense plays like this every game, it won’t much matter what the defense does.

But to the defense’s credit, it also impressed with fireworks of its own.

Freshman defensive lineman Darius Latham recorded half a sack in the first quarter. Freshman safety Antonio Allen recovered a fumble. Sophomore defensive back Michael Hunter intercepted a pass.

And for the most part, the IU defense limited Shakir Bell, who destroyed IU last year, while he was in the game.

Most of the points the Sycamores scored came from mistakes on offense or special teams from IU. Don’t try to say the defense didn’t look good. It did.

Yes, this all came against Indiana State. It’s not Wisconsin. It’s not Ohio State.
But to score that many points? And a defense that didn’t give up any monster plays?

That’s marked improvement.

This Indiana State team returned virtually all of its weapons from last year, when it lost by just seven points to IU.

Last year, it was a close game.

This year, it was everything but close.

The talk around IU in the offseason was, “Would this be the year that the team makes the jump?” All of the players and coaches reiterated that this year is different. But there hadn’t been anything to actually prove that statement.

Now, it can be verified.

In all likelihood, the Hoosiers won’t fire off points after points after points like this again for the rest of the season.

But they showed that they’re capable of it.

When Glass’ new fireworks display kicked things off Friday night, it left a cloud hanging over the entire field, making it impossible to see what was going on down on the field.

That same cloud remains after Thursday night’s win, and IU’s offense lit off its own fireworks.

Will the rest of the season show the same production? Will the team continue to be this dominant?

Wait until after the thunderous booms from IU’s ‘Big Jake’ cannon have cleared in the weeks down the road.

Fireworks, indeed.

— robhowar@indiana.edu
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