No. 24 IU football improves to 6-0 with 41-24 win over Northwestern

Posted by Admin October 5, 2024 Football

BLOOMINGTON — IU football is 6-0 (3-0 Big Ten) and the first team in the country to be bowl eligible after a 41-24 win over Northwestern on Saturday.

The Wildcats made it a one-possession game early in the fourth quarter, but couldn’t come up with a stop against a Kurtis Rourke-led offense that put up more than 500 yards of total offense for the third straight game and fourth time this season.

This is the first time in program history IU has scored 40-plus points in five straight games. Rourke helped them reach the milestone with a touchdown pass to Zach Horton with 3:28 to go.

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Indiana’s defense could have landed a knockout blow earlier in the half, but allowed a series of conversions on 3rd-and-long. Northwestern quarterback Jack Lausch had a career-day with 230 yards (21 of 33) with two touchdowns in just his third career start, but only completed three passes over 15 yards.

Here are three observations from IU’s Week 6 performance:

IU football’s offense comes through in the clutch

Northwestern’s crowd was the loudest it had been all day when Rourke dropped back to pass on a 3rd-and-9 with less than 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats made it a one-possession game on their previous drive and were looking to force a three-and-out.

Rourke had other ideas.

He hit Elijah Sarratt coming across the middle for the first down even though the receiver had a defender draped over his back. Sarratt picked up where he left off against Maryland with a second straight 100-yard performance (third on the season) and a series of big gains (three receptions of 20-plus yards). He’s made a habit of fighting for extra yardage through contact and those small moments have made a different.

The drive ended with IU pushing the lead back to 10 points on a 1-yard touchdown run from Ty Son Lawton with 6:23 to go.

Indiana receiver Ke’Shawn Williams had a similarly impressive individual effort on a 51-yard gain in the third quarter after Northwestern made it 24-17. He caught what looked like it would be a short gain right past the line of scrimmage, but turned it into a play of the year candidate with a juke and spin move combination that left Northwestern defenders bouncing off each other.

The Hoosiers defense had its worst game of the season, but the offense made sure Northwestern was always looking up on the scoreboard.

IU football outscoring teams 73-0 in first quarter this season

Indiana’s success in the first quarter shouldn’t go overlooked. The Hoosiers built a modest 7-0 lead on Saturday, but dominated the proceedings during the first 15 minutes. They allowed just four plays to go for positive yardage while holding Northwestern to 10 total yards. The Wildcats most productive play in the quarter was a kick return.

The only time they haven’t taken a lead in the first quarter this season was against Maryland, but IU didn’t allow a first down during the first 15 minutes and broke a scoreless tie with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.

Jailin Walker’s injury something to keep an eye on

Indiana starting linebacker Jailin Walker watched the entire second half from the sidelines. He ditched his uniform and pads after suffering an upper body injury at the end of the second quarter. He wasn’t moving his right arm at all when he came off the field going into halftime.

Backup linebacker Isaiah Jones got the most snaps in Walker’s absence.

The good news for the Hoosiers is they have a bye week coming up, but if he’s out long term that will be a tough blow to the defense. Walker played a lot of games alongside fellow starting linebacker Aiden Fisher going back to their time at JMU.

It’s the first injury to a starter on either side of the ball since offensive lineman Nick Kidwell went down in fall camp.

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.