IU football: Three quick reasons why the Hoosiers beat Old Dominion 27-14

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana defeated Old Dominion on Saturday at Memorial Stadium by a final score of 27-14.

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

Indiana (1-0) will host Kennesaw State next Saturday.

Stay tuned for more coverage of the game from The Daily Hoosier.

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THREE QUICK REASONS WHY INDIANA WON

1. Immediate adversity to overcome. Nothing was going right early. Old Dominion scored on the first play from scrimmage — a 75-yard run. Then Indiana’s offense was stopped on downs at the goal line on their first drive. The Hoosiers fumbled it away on their second drive. And Omar Cooper, Jr. dropped a sure touchdown in the second quarter. But despite the setbacks, IU scored 27 unanswered points and dominated the overall time of possession — 41:28 to 18:32. A 91-yard punt return by Jonathan Brady got the scoring started for IU.

2. Hoosiers dominant on the ground. While they struggled to punch the ball multiple times at the goal line, IU had no trouble getting push at the line scrimmage and pounding the ball for chunk gains on the ground outside the red zone. The Hoosiers rushed 57 times for 309 yards on the day. Roman Hemby led the way with 23 carries for 110 yards. Kaelon Black added 17 totes for 92 yards and a score. Indiana ran 57 times vs. 31 throws by quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and the Hoosiers still went over 500 yards despite what seemed at times like a struggling offense.

3. Defense finds answers quickly. After giving up the score on the first play, IU forced six punts and three turnovers on ODU’s next nine drives. The Monarchs did score again on their final drive on a second long quarterback run. But taking away the bookend quarterback runs, IU held ODU to 161 yards in between. Amare Ferrell, Louis Moore and D’Angelo Ponds each had an interception. Moore led the Hoosiers with eight tackles.

HIGHLIGHTS