Hoosiers bounce back in big win over North Texas
By COLLIN O’CONNOR
ISL Correspondent
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana’s offense is back.
Coming off of a week when the Hoosiers struggled to get anything going against Maryland, Indiana struck like lightning in a bottle in a 49-24 victory over North Texas on Saturday. The Hoosiers built a 21-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back in their third win of the season.
“We talked about playing hard and coming ready to play hard because, more than anything, I think that is a choice,” Indiana coach Kevin Wilson said.
Indiana forced a turnover on North Texas’ first possession, leading to a Hoosier touchdown. From there, Indiana recovered an onside kick, which led to even more points. After a bit of a lull in the second quarter that kept Indiana’s lead at just 14 heading into halftime, the Hoosiers put up 28 more points in the second half on their way to the convincing victory.
Nate Sudfeld rebounded from his disappointing performance last week to complete 23 of 29 passes for 230 yards. Wilson said the offensive line helped.
“Protection was good,” Wilson said. “They came in leading the nation in sacks, so we did pretty good there.”
Now, Sudfeld will look to keep that consistency with his receivers going as the Hoosiers head back to Big Ten play at Iowa (4-1) next week.
“You’re always working on timing,” he said. “It takes just a little bit to be off, so you’re always fighting to stay in rhythm. It’s a constant battle.”
Tevin Coleman kept the nation’s longest 100-yard rushing game streak alive at seven games as he picked up 150 yards on just 17 carries.
D’Angelo Roberts added 102 yards and two touchdowns, earning Wilson’s praise.
“In a way, he (Roberts) is one of the kids you can’t be more proud of, because he does so many things and plays with so much passion,” Wilson said. “He is a great example of what we want guys to look like.”
Wilson said the Hoosiers need a similar effort to compete with Iowa.
“When you play hard, you can play with a lot of people,” he said. “And when you don’t, you are vulnerable. We are just trying to teach our guys to keep learning and keep growing. We’re not beating our chests, but at the same time there are a lot of good things happening. And we are going to keep striving for them to keep pushing.”
