Indiana football dominates in the first quarter, fourth quarter and leads the nation in point differential

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Every week, new statistics come out documenting Indiana’s historic season.

Most recently, coach Curt Cignetti’s group joined the 1967 Hoosiers as the only team in the program to start 8-0. But perhaps the most eye-catching statistic pits Indiana against recent college football dynasties like Georgia and Alabama, with the Hoosiers having the advantage.

With Saturday’s 31-17 victory over Washington, Indiana became the first FBS team in at least 20 years to start 8-0 without losing a game. David Hale of ESPN. There are many reasons why Indiana earned this distinction. Two of them involve the way Indiana starts and ends games.

Indiana is the only team in the nation to hold all of its opponents scoreless in the first quarter, building an 87-0 advantage. The Hoosiers also performed particularly well in the fourth quarter, outscoring their opponents 101-20.

Scoring advantages in the first and fourth quarters lead the way for an Indiana team that has the advantage across the country Difference No. 1 point with a plus-32.4 per game. Overall, Indiana has outscored its opponents 372-113 this season, which is good considering the nation’s second-best offense allowed per game (46.5) and a defense that ranks seventh in points allowed per game (14, 1).

So what led to Indiana’s early success?

“I think we’re playing well to start the game,” Cignetti said Monday. “We have a lot of experienced, confident players who are coming into the game early.”

Indiana’s offense has scored a touchdown for the first time in four of eight games this season. But even if he didn’t score right away like in the last two games, the defense was up to the task.

On Saturday against Washington, Indiana’s first three at-bats included two three-out drives and a turnover on downs. Against Maryland, Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke threw two interceptions in the first two possessions, and running back Kaelon Black fumbled the ball late in the second quarter.

What has made Indiana so difficult to beat this year is its complementary football. After every turnover against Maryland, Indiana’s defense went three-and-out.

A similar dynamic could be observed in Saturday’s game against Washington. With the offense out of the gate, Indiana’s defense sacked Washington quarterback Will Rogers twice on its first possession. Cornerback D’Angelo Ponds intercepted the ball for a touchdown on the Huskies’ second drive.

“It looked like last week that we had the potential to fall behind in the first quarter,” Cignetti said. “…The day is coming. It doesn’t last forever. I hope that doesn’t come.

Success in the first quarter gave Indiana the luxury of playing with a lead, which is what any coach would prefer. Before the game in Bloomington, Washington coach Jedd Fisch said that Indiana’s early lead might have given opponents pre-play anxiety, meaning they would deviate from their game plans and throw the ball more than run, in hopes of quickly reducing the deficit.

It’s also the mentality of the Hoosiers that they are not the underdogs like they have been in the past.

“(Cignetti) drills into your brain that we’re the best team, that we have the best guys and we don’t really need anything else,” Indiana State linebacker Shawn Asbury II said after the Hoosiers beat Nebraska 56-7 . “He believes in us; We believe in ourselves.”

“Coach always says to play with emotion, but don’t play with emotion,” said Judge Ellison of Indiana after the game in Washington, D.C. “… Don’t get too high, don’t get too low, stay in the middle and keep playing the ball. When you have that attitude, it doesn’t matter what happens.”

That doesn’t mean Indiana played bad or even mediocre in the second and third quarters. It simply didn’t live up to the elite standard of play in the first and fourth quarters. The second quarter was the best period for both Indiana and its opponents, with the Hoosiers outscoring their opponents 104-62. The Hoosiers have an 80-31 lead in the third quarter, their worst from an offensive standpoint.

After gaining leads in each game, the Hoosiers often wore down their opponents in the fourth quarter. On October 5, Northwestern cut Indiana’s lead to three points with 11:19 left in the game. Indiana responded with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that clocked 4:56.

Ellison led Indiana with 68 rushing yards in the game, but fellow running backs Kaelon Black and Ty Son Lawton handled carries in a rush that did much to seal the win.

“It definitely wears down the defense,” Rourke said after beating Northwestern. “That’s one of our strengths: we can play with so many players and always have fresh legs, whether it’s an attacker or a defender. So I think that’s a powerful weapon when these guys are constantly changing and always ready.”

Even without Rourke against Nebraska, backup quarterback Tayven Jackson led the Hoosiers with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The first, Black’s 10-yard run, was initiated by a turnover after downs forced by the defense. Indiana extended its lead after an interception by true freshman linebacker Rolijah Hardy after fullback Elijah Green booted a one-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter.

“A lot of times when you get a big lead, you start playing a little bit lazily — not lazily, but taking your foot off the gas pedal,” Asbury said. “I’m glad we just kept our foot on the gas and got the result.”

Indiana center Mike Katic said he tells the offensive team before every drive that it is their responsibility to take control of the game. In the second half of the game against Washington, Indiana scored a touchdown with 7:42 remaining. And after the Huskies scored 14 points with 6:06 left, Indiana finished the game with 10 straight drives by Ellison, Black and Jackson.

“That’s pretty much been the story over the last few weeks: They just broke their will in the fourth quarter and just dominated. And I think we succeeded,” Katic said on Saturday. “… You can just see the guys breaking down and huffing and puffing. We huff and puff too, but we feel like their will is being broken and that’s when I think we’re the most dominant.”

Cignetti attributes multiple factors to Indiana’s late-game dominance, including the momentum it gained earlier in the game and its athletic performance director Derek Owingswork in a team. Wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, who leads the team with 33 receptions for 590 yards and who coached with Owings at James Madison last season, agrees.

“Summer training,” Sarratt said, was the reason for Indiana’s fourth-quarter success. “… We were practicing around 12 o’clock in the heat, working our asses off. I just have to attribute it to that. We have a great strength staff, and Coach Owings prepares us for those moments so that we don’t get tired in the fourth round.”