What impressed most in Indiana football Week 1 win over FIU
Insiders Zach Osterman and Michael Niziolek break down the Hoosiers’ 31-7 win over FIU in the season opener.
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football opened the Curt Cignetti era with a 31-7 win over FIU on Saturday.
After opening the game with a three-and-out, the Hoosiers reeled off 21 unanswered points. They had more yards (141) and first downs (nine) in the first quarter than they had against an FBS opponent in 2023.
Indiana’s defense filled up the stat sheet nicely with a four sacks, seven tackles for a loss and interception while holding FIU to less than 200 total yards of offense.
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Here’s three things we learned from IU’s Week 1 performance:
IU football’s offense is really going to spread the ball around
Indiana regularly rotated six wide receivers on Saturday and relied on a two-headed monster at running back with Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton. The Hoosiers had seven players including two backs catch at least one pass.
The coaching staff talked about their depth at both positions throughout the offseason, but the way they effectively used various lineups was impressive. They ran a series of designed plays to get their athletes like Myles Price the ball in space — his lone carry came on a reverse toss that fooled the defense — and keep the chains moving.
Another example of that came in the third quarter when Ellison snuck out of the backfield and caught a 19-yard pass to convert a 4th-and-4 deep in FIU’s territory.
Indiana’s new starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke paved the way for that success by delivering the ball on time and accurately throughout the game.
Kurtis Rourke’s elusiveness will give IU’s offensive line time to jell
Indiana’s offensive line struggled to give Rourke enough time in the pocket, but he was only sacked one time.
Rourke moves well and at 6-5, 223-pounds isn’t easy for defensive linemen to bring down. He broke multiple tackles in the backfield and burned FIU on a 3rd-and-20 when completed a deep pass to Miles Cross after escaping a would-be tackler.
The line’s uneven play wasn’t surprising since they had two first-time starters — Bray Lynch at right guard and Drew Evans at left guard — playing on the interior of the line. They showed some nice physicality in the run game, but are still a work in progress.
IU football coach Curt Cignetti still trying to instill disciplined approach
Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher gave FIU a lifeline late in the first quarter when he was called for roughing the passer on FIU quarterback Keyone Jenkins. The drive didn’t result in any points, but it was only the Panthers’ second first down of the game and allowed them to cross midfield for the first time.
Those kinds of miscues were the ones JMU avoided in recent years. The Dukes ranked 15th in the FBS in 2022 (39.9 penalty yards per game) and 2023 (40.1 penalty yards)
Indiana’s offense was called for three penalties on one drive in the third quarter (two pre-snap penalties and a holding call) and the sequence had Cignetti storming down the sideline away from his team.
The Hoosiers have to avoid that kind of sloppy play once the competition improves.
Bonus observation: IU’s improved athleticism on defense is a good sign
Indiana’s starting linebacker tandem of Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker were all over the field Saturday. It wasn’t all that surprising to see Walker even line up to cover a receiver. They combined for 19 tackles (nine solo) and Fisher had a pair of tackles for loss with a sack.
The defensive line’s focus on getting up the field combined with the athleticism of new additions like Mikail Kamara and James Carpenter also made for a potent combination. The line accounted for three of IU’s four sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss.
Indiana’s secondary kept everything in front of them throughout the game as well.
The Hoosiers cover more ground than they did a year ago and that will help create negative plays on a more consistent basis.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
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Publish date : 2024-08-31 11:48:00
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