#18 Excel H Sports Ranked Indiana stays unbeaten with a 31-17 win over Washington
By Nick Jenkinson/Excel H Sports
photos by: Eric Theiszen, Excel H Sports/TCP
The 18th Excel H Sports Ranked Indiana Hoosiers beat the Washington Huskies 31-17 Saturday afternoon at sold-out Memorial Stadium in Bloomington to remain unbeaten at 8-0 and 5-0 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers have tied the 1967 team for the best start in school history and Big Ten History.
That team went to Rose Bowl and were conference co-champions. This is the 9th time in program history the Hoosiers have won eight games in a season. Curt Cignetti is 8-0 as the Hoosier head coach and is the sixth coach in Big Ten History to start 8-0 in the first Big Ten Season joining Carroll Widdoes of Ohio State, Bennie Oosterbaan of Michigan, Earle Bruce, Urban Meyer and Ryan Day all of Ohio State.
The Hoosiers eight game winning streak ties a program record with the 1945 and 1967 teams. The Hoosiers never trailed and along with Army remain the only teams that have not trailed in game this season. Indiana and Army are the only teams win all their games by double digits after Navy lost to Notre Dame on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The Hoosiers defense got things started when D’Angelo Ponds timed a perfect Will Rogers screen pass and returned it 67 yards to put the Hoosiers on top 7-0 with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
The Hoosiers are one of four teams to score first in every game this season along with Army, Ole Miss and Boise State. Indiana held the Huskies scoreless in the first quarter and the Hoosiers remain the only FBS team to not allow a first quarter score.
Ponds picked Rogers off a second time to start the second quarter, and the Hoosiers responded two plays later with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Tayven Jackson to Omar Cooper Jr. as the Hoosiers took a 14-0 lead with 13:24 left in the second quarter.
Washington scored on a 5-yard run by Giles Jackson with 10:34 left in the second quarter to trail 14-7. Nicolas Radicic hit a 19-yard field goal with no time left in the second quarter to send the Hoosiers to the locker room with a 17-7 lead.
In the second half Tayven Jackson threw an interception and Demond Williams Jr. scored on 8-yard touchdown run to cut the Hoosiers lead to three with 12:45 left in the third quarter.
Indiana’s running game got going with Justice Ellison scoring a 5-yard touchdown with a 5:03 left in the third quarter to put the Hoosiers up 24-14 with 5:03 left in the third quarter. Jackson scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 8:55 left in the fourth quarter to put the Hoosiers up 31-14. Grady Gross added a 23-yard field goal to complete the scoring with 6:06 left in the fourth quarter.
Jackson finished 11-19 passing for 124 yards 1 touchdown and 1 interception and had 6 carries for 17 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Justice Ellison continues to be a force for the Hoosiers as the carried the ball 29 times for 123 yards and a touchdown and has scored a touchdown in 7 straight games and his fourth 100 yard plus rushing game of the season.
Ty Son Lawton had 12 carries for 41 yards as the Hoosiers ran the ball 52 times for 188 yards and 2 touchdowns. Nine different Hoosiers caught the ball as Miles Price and Zach Horton caught it twice and Omar Cooper Jr, Miles Cross, Eilijah Sarratt, Ke’ Shawn Williams, Kaelon Black, Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton all had one reception.
Indiana finished with 312 yards offense, 20 first downs, 8-15 on third down conversions and 1-2 on fourth downs. The Hoosiers ran 71 plays and were 3-3 in the red zone and controlled the ball 31 Minutes and 27 seconds. Indiana’s offensive line protected Jackson as they did not allow a sack the entire game. Indiana had 1 penalty for 5 yards.
Washington finished with 318 yards of offense. Will Rogers was 19-26 for 202 yards passing and 2 interceptions. Demond Williams Jr was 0-1 passing.
Jonah Coleman had 104 of the Huskies 116 rushing yards and 19 of the 31 carries. 7 different Huskies caught the ball as Denzel Boston the Huskies top receiver was held to 43 yards and 4 catches. The Huskies had 16 first downs, went 3-11 on third down conversions and 1-3 on fourth downs. The Huskies ran 58 plays and were 3-3 in the red zone and controlled the ball for 28 minutes and 33 seconds. The Huskies had 5 penalties for 33 yards and Rogers was sacked three times.
Washington drops to 4-4 on the season and 2-3 in the Big Ten and have lost all the conference road games and have one more cross-country road trip coming up November 9 at Penn State. The Hoosiers are 3-1 all time against the Huskies and 2-0 in Bloomington as the Huskies traveled to Bloomington for the first time since 1978.
It was a special day in Bloomington as ESPN’s College Game Day made its first ever Saturday appearance and second ever appearance after a special Thursday Night show on August 31, 2017, against Ohio State. Lee Corso who coached the Hoosiers from 1973-1982 was going to be here as the 1979 Holiday Bowl Team who beat BYU was honored with a reunion has been part of the Game Day show since it started traveling weekly to College Campuses in 1993. Corso is known for putting on a headgear of the team that he predicts to win that day but since the Hoosiers do not have a mascot, he was wearing his trademark Indiana Sweater that he coached in and put on the 1979 Holiday Bowl Hat and said “Go Indiana Beat Purdue”.
Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thompson presented Corso with a proclamation on the show proclaiming Lee Corso Day in Bloomington Saturday. Former IU Baseball player Kyle Schwarber who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies was the celebrity guest picker and wore a baseball helmet and Indiana Football Jersey. Schwarber, Corso along with former Indianapolis Colts Kicker Pat McAfee and Former Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban who Curt Cignetti coached under from 2007-2010 all picked the Hoosiers to win while former Ohio State Quarterback Kirk Herbstreit and former Michigan Wide Receiver Desmond Howard picked Washington to win the game.
The crowd was electric as fans lined up starting at 11 am Friday Morning and camped out all night for the three hour show that started at 9 AM Saturday Morning. Indiana continues to show week in and week out that this team is the real deal, and they can do something that has never been done before in program history and that is start a season 9-0 but it will be tough road trip at Michigan State next Saturday that will be the next challenge for the Hoosiers.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.