IU football: Three quick reasons IU football beat Howard, highlights, final stats

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana beat Howard by a final score of 55-0 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

Below are three quick reasons why the Hoosiers won, along with highlights and final stats.

Indiana (2-0) is back in action next Saturday against Western Kentucky in Bloomington.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the game.

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Three quick reasons why Indiana beat Howard

1. Hoover and Becker pick up where they left off. Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover and wideout Charlie Becker posted big numbers on low volume in week one, and the pair hooked up again multiple times against Howard in the first half. On just 11 throws, Hoover had 146 yards and four touchdowns, while Becker turned all three of his catches into scores. Hoover is up to eight touchdowns against no interceptions on the season, while Becker has five touchdowns in his first two games. Becker was uncoverable against Howard, and Hoover looked for him early.

2. No long drives against the defense this time. After IU allowed multiple long drives by North Texas a week ago, Howard could get nothing going all afternoon. The Bison looked like they might be onto something very early. They picked 22 yards on their first drive, but ended up picking up just 57 yards and four first downs for the game. Howard punted nine times and just 11 total yards in the second half. The Hoosiers amassed 12 tackles for loss and five sacks. Rolijah Hardy co-led the team with five tackles and an interception return for a touchdown. Second-year edge Keishaun Calhoun had two sacks and two tackles for loss.

3. They are who we thought they were. Curt Cignetti didn’t mince words ahead of this game. Indiana is better. The Hoosiers were bigger, stronger, and faster. They were better in all three phases by a wide margin. There isn’t much more to analyze about this game.