IU football: Three quick reasons the Hoosiers beat Western Kentucky, highlights, stats

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana beat Western Kentucky by a final score of 38-0 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

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

Indiana (3-0) opens Big Ten play next week with a Friday night game against Northwestern in Bloomington.

For Curt Cignetti’s postgame media availability, GO HERE.

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Three quick reasons why Indiana beat Western Kentucky

1. Big play by ‘Bones’: After IU punted the ball back to WKU late in the first half, the Hoosiers faced a very real possibility of going into the halftime locker room with only a seven-point lead — or smaller, or a tie game. But that all changed on a Western Kentucky third-and-5 from its own 20. Quarterback Brock Glenn rolled to his right and threw the ball over the middle, but Indiana’s Isaiah Jones stepped in front of the target and made a critical interception, and then ran it back to the 2-yard line. Lee Beebe Jr. punched it in for a touchdown two plays later. The turnover completely changed the game’s momentum.

2. Defense locked in: Indiana’s defense didn’t have a perfect game, despite the final score. Western Kentucky had some moments, particularly in the first half, where its offense seemed dangerous. Quarterback Brock Glenn, at his best, picked apart IU’s secondary. But even on drives like those, Bryant Haines’ unit buckled down when needed and kept WKU off the scoreboard. The defense, as a whole, got stronger as the game went along. But the front seven feasted all afternoon. The Hoosiers racked up seven tackles for loss, but they were far more impactful than that. They finished with nine QB hurries — and if Glenn didn’t do as good a job of getting rid of the ball under duress, IU would’ve finished with an eye-popping amount of TFLs.

3. Becker, Richard come through: Josh Hoover wasn’t at his best at quarterback, with a few costly misfires that would’ve loomed larger in bigger games. But two of IU’s biggest offensive playmakers came up with big plays when the team needed it most. Running back Turbo Richard was explosive, with 149 rushing yards on 15 attempts and a touchdown — his second straight 100-yard game. He recorded five rushes for at least 10 yards, and he was was an important engine for the offense all day. And in the pass game, Charlie Becker came up with the goods as he so often has. Nick Marsh led the team with seven receptions and 10 targets, but Becker’s five catches were some of the biggest plays of the day. His main highlight came in the third quarter, when he turned an underthrown pass downfield into a 79-yard touchdown.

HIGHLIGHTS