Indiana 42-28 Maryland (September 28, 2024) Game Recap

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – First-year coach Curt Cignetti promised he would transform the Indiana Hoosiers football program.

Hardly anyone would have expected it to happen so quickly.

Kurtis Rourke threw for a season-high 359 yards and three touchdowns on Saturday, and Indiana’s defense delivered stop after stop in the final 22 minutes as Indiana beat Maryland 42-28 and 5-0 for the first time since 1967 started.

“Obviously we haven’t been 5-0 in 57 years. “That’s quite a long time, isn’t it?” Cignetti said before leaving the field. “This is a step in the right direction, but we need to continue to improve as a team.”

These are clearly not the old Hoosiers (2-0 Big Ten).

Despite four turnovers – its first four this season – the defense allowed just one touchdown in the final 22 minutes, and Rourke recovered from two first-half interceptions to help Indiana win its fifth straight game, its longest streak since 2000 to get to the 30 point mark.

They opened the season with five straight wins for the third time in school history and are now aiming for even bigger goals.

“We’re not done yet,” Cignetti said. “We can play better than we did today.”

Rourke finished 22 of 33 and connected with Elijah Sarratt seven times for 128 yards and a score. Ty Son Lawton had 19 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Maryland suffered its first loss to the Hoosiers since 2020 despite Billy Edwards Jr. throwing three touchdown passes and Roman Hemby scoring a season-best 75-yard TD run.

But the Terrapins (3-2, 0-2) never led on a damp, windy day in Bloomington.

Edwards was 26 of 41 for 289 yards, while Hemby ran 19 times for 117 yards and had five catches for 48 yards.

“Give them credit, they’re a good team,” Maryland coach Mike Locksley said. “We knew they were going to be the best team we ever played against and we knew they had a good team and we had to compete. Now we have a bye week, so we have to wait a few weeks for that.”

The Hoosiers took control late in the third quarter after Justice Ellison scored on a nifty 19-yard inside run to briefly give Indiana a 21-14 lead. Hemby broke free on the next offensive snap and tied the score at 21.

Then Rourke broke the tie with his 13-yard TD pass to Sarratt in the final minute of the third period, and the Hoosiers sealed the victory with Rourke’s 12-yard TD pass to Donaven McCulley and Lawton’s 14-yard scoring Run that enabled the 42-yard scoring run. 21.

All Maryland could muster was a late 12-yard touchdown pass from Edwards to Hemby.

The takeaway food

Maryland: Edwards played well – when he wasn’t harassed. He was fired five times. But the bigger concern for the Terrapins could be injuries. The Terrapins’ top two receivers, Tai Felton and Kaden Prather, both left the game. Prather returned. Felton didn’t finish the game. If Maryland loses Felton or Prather for an extended period of time, it could be a long year.

Indiana: It’s been 57 years since they were last 5-0, and 57 years before that, in 1910, they were also 5-0. But this win could do more than put the Hoosiers just one win away from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2020. He could get them back into The Associated Press top 25 for the first time since 2021.

Big block

Referee James Shaw III had a big play in the third quarter when his long touchdown run accidentally blocked an Indiana defender who was trying to tackle Hemby in the hole. Shaw stayed down briefly, delaying the extra point. But after getting some water on the sideline during a commercial break, he returned to his normal position on the field and finished the game.

Next

Maryland: Has a bye week before hosting Northwestern on Oct. 11.

Indiana: Puts its perfect record on the line next Saturday at Northwestern.

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