Indiana football picked up one of the bigger wins the program has seen in recent memory, defeating UCLA 42-13 Saturday. With questions looming throughout the week if the Hoosiers would be able to carry their dominance over to Big Ten play, Indiana controlled this one from the opening kick.
With this win, expectations are officially set for this Indiana team. The question is, how does this triumph impact the rest of the season?
It’s the fourth time since the beginning of the Tom Allen era in 2017 that the Hoosiers have started their campaign 3-0, but with Curt Cignetti at the helm, there is a completely different feel that Indiana football has never seen.
“You can just tell things are way different from both sides of the ball to special teams,” sophomore defensive back Amare Ferrell said after the game. “The coaches demand perfection every single day.”
Indiana has controlled all three games it has played to start the year, showing it is a must-watch team with a suffocating defense complemented with an explosive offense.
Sixth-year senior Kurtis Rourke proved that he is the quarterback to lead this team, finishing 25-of-33 for 307 yards and four touchdowns against UCLA. There’s now an argument that he is one of the top quarterbacks in the conference. Through three games, Rourke has already completed 74% of his passes for 755 yards, seven touchdowns with zero interceptions.
Rourke was the key piece for the Hoosiers on their way to 430 yards of total offense. It was an offense that looked like it could play with anyone on the schedule the rest of the way, scoring touchdowns on all five red zones trip.
“I think that even since January and spring ball and everything that we could be a good team,” Rourke said postgame. “We had a lot of really good pieces in order to compete this year.”
The Hoosiers have been a big play threat early on, which continued in game three. With an average time of possession over their nine drives being 3:29, the Bruins never had time to rest their offense. Before UCLA could think, Indiana led a 6:29 drive before recovering a fumble on defense that allowed it to go up 14-0 before the eight-minute mark.
Playing with aggression was something that Indiana fans are going to get used to, and there are more than enough pieces on the offense to sustain this play style. Five different players scored six touchdowns for Indiana, including two from senior wide receiver Ke’Shawn Williams.
It feels like every week there is another new face to highlight, which is a big reason for the newfound expectations. Not only have the players that were supposed to perform well shown up, but the Hoosiers continue to show off just how deep they are week-to-week. You can’t gameplan for everyone, and there were seven different receivers with a catch along with five different rushers including Rourke.
The Indiana defense has also proven to be one of the best in the Big Ten, once again led by junior linebacker Aiden Fisher. Having an offense that can win a shootout against almost any team in the conference as well as a defense that has shown they can force errors is proving to be a powerful couple.
“We need to play like this every game,” senior linebacker Jailin Walker said postgame. “That’s the standard. Playing nasty, playing fast, playing physical and making plays.”
There is now real excitement for a fan base that wanted to wait for a true road test to truly buy in. It’s going to be hard to not put all your chips in the center of the table now, especially when looking at the remaining schedule.
While the Hoosiers play an abnormal eight home games in 2024, they are set up well on the road outside of Ohio State on Nov. 23. Despite playing well to open the season, there are still plenty of steps to take before feeling good going to Columbus, Ohio, late in the year.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
