FOX’s «Big Noon Kickoff» was in Bloomington, Indiana on Saturday, as Kurtis Rourke and the No. 16 Hoosiers put together a dominant offensive performance in a 56-7 victory over Nebraska.
Rourke completed 17 of 21 passes for 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while running back Justice Ellison added 105 yards and two scores on the ground as the Hoosiers improved to 7-0 on the season.
The 16th-ranked Hoosiers trounced Nebraska 56-7 at Memorial Stadium, moving to 7-0 for the first time since 1967 with a systematic dismantling of the Huskers in a victory set to raise the profile of first-year IU coach Curt Cignetti and senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke.
The Hoosiers rang up more than 500 yards on offense, took a 28-7 lead into halftime and added some heft to their resume as they began what’s supposed to be a more challenging second half of the season. However, Rourke did not play in the second half after suffering an injury to his throwing hand. Cignetti said on the Fox broadcast they are unsure of the severity of the injury.
The Huskers dropped to 5-2 and lost their 26th consecutive game against AP-ranked opponents, dating to 2016. They’re 1-16 on the road in Big Ten play against ranked teams and remain a win away from their quest to reach bowl eligibility for the first time since 2016. Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola threw three interceptions for the Huskers.
Here are some takeaways from the Hoosiers’ win.
There were questions galore about Indiana entering its game against Nebraska, and the Hoosiers answered them with an exclamation point. Saturday counts as Indiana’s largest Big Ten win since a 49-0 victory at Minnesota in 1945.
On four of the Hoosiers’ six first-half drives, they drove at least 74 yards for a touchdown. Indiana put up 343 yards and made it look so easy on offense. In the first half alone, the Hoosiers averaged 11.1 yards per completion and 9.6 yards per rush. They were equally dominant in both the run (154 yards) and the pass (189 yards). Video games look at those numbers and say, those are video game numbers.
Then in the second half, it was just a continuation. Rourke stepped aside with a hand issue, and backup Tayven Jackson then crushed it in the third quarter, completing all four attempts for 68 yards and two touchdowns.
Why were there doubts about Indiana’s offense? After all, the Hoosiers averaged 47.5 points per game entering their matchup with the Huskers. But only one of the defenses Indiana faced was ranked in the top 30 (Northwestern). Also, none of Indiana’s first six opponents had winning records.