Four receptions, for 54 yards, comprised the balance of statistical production on offense Saturday, from Hoosiers who were wearing the same uniform last November.
Indiana’s 31-7 season-opening win against Florida International marked the IU debuts of roughly two dozen new Hoosiers. Curt Cignetti’s offseason portal work reflected across every position, on both sides of the ball.
Here are some noteworthy performances:
A backfield remade
Cignetti and his staff entirely retooled Indiana’s running back rotation last winter.
Out the door went Jaylin Lucas, Trent Howland and David Holloman. In their place arrived Kaelon Black (James Madison), Justice Ellison (Wake Forest), Elijah Green (North Carolina) and Ty Son Lawton (James Madison).
Together they built one of the most statistically productive days in recent memory from an IU ground game, carrying the ball 40 times for 239 sack-adjusted yards. Lawton scored a pair of touchdowns, and should have added a third through the air on a halfback pass that fell short, while Green added a late score on the Hoosiers’ final drive.
The Hoosiers averaged 6.3 sack-adjusted yards per carry, and of their 12 explosive plays (10-plus rushing yards, 15-plus passing yards), nine came via the ground game.
There will be sterner tests. But the blend of experience, smart rotation and productive carries IU’s new-look running back room put on film Saturday was encouraging.
Kurtis Rourke’s debut
Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke “did a nice job” in his first start at Indiana, per Cignetti’s assessment.
The sixth-year signal caller finished 15-of-24 for 180 yards and a touchdown. He was sacked twice but lost just five yards on those, navigating the pocket well to avoid one or two more.
Pass protection was a point of emphasis coming out of Saturday’s game, with Cignetti suggesting IU could clean that aspect of its offensive performance up. Still, through that Rourke delivered a composed and relatively mistake-free performance in his first start as a Hoosier, mixing up his targets and completing passes to seven different receivers (five of which were transfers).
Both Rourke and Cignetti suggested Rourke left a handful of yards on the field and perhaps one or two scores, on the field. But for a Week 1 shakedown cruise, Rourke’s performance was more than enough steer Indiana to victory.
Newcomers and returners alike shared in the spoils of a defense that arrived with a disruptive reputation and did little to dampen that.
The Hoosiers registered four sacks and eight tackles for loss Saturday, forcing a fumble and turning in an interception. Of those four sacks, just one was delivered by a transfer (Aiden Fisher), but five newcomers managed to at least share half of a tackle for loss.