The reigning National Champion Indiana Hoosiers haven’t been tested much this season, and boy, did they ever get a test on Friday night.
Despite being three-touchdown favorites, the Hoosiers found themselves battling the Northwestern Wildcats to the very end, eking out a 29-23 win at home.
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Coming into Friday night’s game, the Hoosiers — despite getting off to a 3-0 start on the heels of a title — had dealt with one big criticism dogging them this season.
Slow starts.
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Head coach Curt Cignetti had to field questions about his team’s play early in games against easier opponents.
So, there was a lot of focus on whether or not that trend would continue as the Big Ten schedule got underway against the Wildcats.
Well, the answer was… kind of?
The Hoosiers opened the game with a 15-play, 67-yard drive that ate up around half of the opening quarter.
However, the slow-start bug showed up again when a drive that should’ve ended with points on the board was instead capped by a huge defensive play from Northwestern.
The Indiana defense managed to bail out the boys on the other side of the ball when Northwestern QB Aidan Chiles fumbled a snap before getting brought down in his own end zone for a safety.
The Hoosiers battled through an unusual first half with an offense that looked a little disjointed at times and more penalties than you typically see out of them.
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Worse, they suffered a big blow later in the half when running back Turbo Richard was hit late after going out of bounds and went straight to the locker room.
There was no call on the play, which made a call against Indiana on a similar play moments later very unpopular with the folks at Memorial Stadium.
Indiana tacked on a touchdown and extra point to take a 12-0 lead to the locker room at the half; of course, it didn’t hurt that Northwestern rushed for -5 yards through thirty minutes.
But just over halfway through the third quarter, Northwestern paid their first visit to the red zone and managed to get rid of that goose egg.
Chiles wrapped up that drive, despite suffering what sure appeared to be a dislocated finger, and led the Wildcats to the first points Indiana had allowed since their season opener.
And the Wildcats weren’t done, with Chiles hitting Griffin Wilde in the back of the end zone at the start of the fourth quarter for an unbelievable touchdown.
Northwestern head coach David Braun opted to go for two and try to tie it up, but the Hoosiers thwarted them on their first and then their second attempts after a penalty.
Indiana answered back with a scoring drive of their own, with Lee Beebe Jr. — who handled most of the legwork after Richard’s exit — putting the Hoosiers in the red zone with a 39-yard carry, before punching it in for a touchdown two plays later.
Penalties were a story for Indiana, who averaged just three penalties per game so far this season, but wound up with nearly triple that.
Some were costly too, including a holding penalty that set the Wildcats up on the Indiana 4-yardline, and a few plays later Chiles took matters into his own hands.
Beebe threw down another huge play to put the Hoosiers back in scoring position.
It looked like the Wildcats were on the cusp of another goal-line stand, but a costly defensive pass interference penalty gave Indiana a fresh set of downs, with QB Josh Hoover finding the end zone on a keeper that fooled just about everyone in the building.
Northwestern tacked on a field goal on the ensuing drive, but Indiana managed to recover their attempt at an onside kick.
That slow start habit is still going to be a talking point, as it let Northwestern stay in the game.
And while the injury to Richard is a big concern, Beebe’s play — he finished with 203 rushing yards — was a major bright spot.
The Hoosiers will play Rutgers next weekend, followed by Nebraska, and then a big one against Ohio State on October 17.
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