No. 6 Indiana has spent September enjoying the comforts of home.
Ahead of the defending national champion’s first road test on Saturday night against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti took a cue from a fictional counterpart.
“We’re still playing on a 100-yard football field, 52 yards wide,” Cignetti quipped, a likely reference to a scene from the movie “Hoosiers,” in which basketball coach Norman Dale assures his players that the state tournament’s court measures no differently than the one back at home.
These Hoosiers no longer are underdogs. Indiana (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) has won 20 straight games and is one of four unbeaten teams in the conference.
But after consecutive shutouts of Howard and Western Kentucky, the Hoosiers had to work for their 29-23 win over Northwestern last week in the Big Ten opener for both teams. Indiana led 12-0 at halftime before Northwestern scored all of its points in the game’s final 21:34 in a late comeback attempt.
After reviewing the tape, Cignetti rued his team’s slow start.
“For the first 25 plays, there’s 12 either penalties, critical missed assignments or missed opportunities,” he said. “I mean, we should’ve gone in there at halftime with a four-score lead.”
The offense rose to the occasion late, and while Josh Hoover racked up 201 passing yards, one passing touchdown and one rushing score, Lee Beebe Jr. emerged as the biggest weapon with a career game of 203 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Beebe took over after starting running back Turbo Richard exited with a right leg injury. Cignetti said Monday that Richard is day-to-day and has a chance to play Saturday, as does linebacker Rolijah Hardy (unspecified).
Rutgers (1-3, 0-1) has won the past three matchups against Indiana, but those occurred before Cignetti arrived from James Madison and transformed the Hoosiers’ moribund program.
Field-dimension jokes aside, Cignetti said he expects a raucous crowd for Rutgers’ homecoming game.
“They’re capable of scoring points, and they do score points,” Cignetti said. “KJ Duff is a premier receiver, and their other receivers are developing. They’ve got a good running back, (Antwan) Raymond. … They’re giving up some points, but we got to do a much better job.”
Duff ranks fourth in FBS in receiving yards (550) and is tied for first in receiving touchdowns (seven) with Big Ten peers Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State and Collin Dixon of Illinois.
Raymond rushed for 140 yards and three first-half touchdowns in the Scarlet Knights’ 58-7 home win last Friday over Howard. It was Greg Schiano’s 100th win as Rutgers’ head coach and the team’s first victory after opening with losses to UMass, Boston College and Southern California.
Schiano praised Cignetti and said they share belief in many principles — ball security chief among them.
“There’s no weakness in this team … They’ve won or tied the net turnover margin 28 straight weeks, which is a modern-day record,” Schiano said.
Indiana has lost just one turnover through its first four games. Hoover has completed 70% of his throws for 850 yards and 11 touchdowns without an interception. His top two receivers, Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh, have combined for 35 receptions, 591 yards and nine TDs.
Hoover’s counterpart on the Rutgers side is Dylan Lonergan, who shook off a slow start to his season and went 12-for-17 for 214 yards and two scores in roughly 2 1/2 quarters last week.
Schiano again referred to ball security when asked Tuesday where Lonergan took strides against Howard.
“Making the ball more important than any other completion, any yard,” Schiano said. “We’re just not gonna turn the football over.”