ABC57 Kickoff looks ahead at IU's game against Rutgers following a scare with Northwestern

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The Big Ten opener for Indiana was nearly a disaster under the lights last Friday night with Northwestern in town.

With 8 uncharacteristic penalties stacked up, defensive struggles in the second half and some big, missed opportunities in the passing game, IU barely escaped with the 29-23 win.

Quarterback Josh Hoover said postgame, “This is really the first test in this season and there was no panic on the sideline…this is a long season and I know that where we want to be as a team in the future is not where we’re at right now.”

Indiana leaned on running back Lee Beebe Jr last Friday night.  Beebe stepped in for an injured Turbo Richard and became Indiana’s first player with 200-plus rushing yards in a game since 2018.

But outside of that, inconsistency was the glaring issue for Head Coach Curt Cignetti versus Northwestern.

“We’ve got to play better. We're not going to go very far playing the way we played,” Head Coach Curt Cignetti. “We're going on the road. Still playing on a 100-yard football field, 52 yards wide. Got a lot of veterans on this team that have been there. It's a business trip, so going there -- we got prepare well this week and put it between the white lines.”

Tonight it’s Indiana’s first road test of the season that takes them to Piscataway for a 1-3 Rutgers squad. Some good news on the injury front for Indiana, starting running back Turbo Richard and starting linebacker Rolijah Hardy are listed as probable after injuries knocked them out of the Northwestern win.