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Rapid Reaction: Rutgers inches closer to bowl bid with dominant defensive showing vs. Indiana
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Final Score: Rutgers 38, Indiana 3
Brief Recap: Saturday’s showdown in Bloomington featured two hungry teams, but the score did not produce a close battle. Indiana entered still searching for its first conference win in what has been a year to forget for Tom Allen’s Hoosiers. For Greg Schiano’s Rutgers squad, the Scarlet Knights entered at 4-5 and with a shot at getting to a bowl game. And in Week 11, it was Rutgers that dominated the action from wire to wire.
Indiana fumbled on the opening play of the game as QB Donaven McCulley and the running back failed to execute the exchange. Rutgers pounced on the fumble in what would be a reoccurring theme of Indiana turnovers. The Scarlet Knights would take a 17-0 lead on a pair of Isaih Pacheco touchdowns before a late field goal made it 17-3 at halftime. A botched punt and quick score to start the third quarter gave Rutgers the commanding lead as the Scarlet Knights rolled to a big win in the second half.
Key Player: Early on, it was the tough running of Isaih Pacheco that helped stake the team Scarlet Knights to the lead. He finished with 67 yards on 17 carries with both touchdowns coming in the first quarter. Outside of Pacheco’s running, it was a total body of work with multiple defenders contributing to the big game.
Key Moment: In a game this lopsided, we’re going with a special piesman moment for Rutgers. On a trick play in the third quarter, the Knights executed a pass back across the formation to offensive lineman Raiqwon O’Neal. He flashed his athleticism and had a nice dive to the pylon for the touchdown.
Key Stat: +6, turnover differential in favor of the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers took full advantage of those takeaways while managing to play clean football on the offensive side of the ball.
What it means for Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights have weathered the storm for their second B1G victory of the season. Now, Schiano’s squad needs just 1 more win to qualify for the postseason in Year 2 of his return to New Jersey. Rutgers will have two chances to get win No. 6: on the road at Penn State in Week 12 and at home vs. Maryland in Week 13. Either way, 5-5 with 2 conference wins is nothing to sneeze at for this team.
What it means for Indiana: Will this season never end? Things went from bad to worse in Bloomington right away with the fumble, and it has just been that kind of year for Allen’s squad. Backup QB Jack Tuttle returned to action in the first half (despite not starting under center), but he was banged up in action and ruled out during the second half. The loss drops Indiana to 2-8 overall and winless in the B1G. The Hoosiers will get chances to get a conference win against Minnesota and Purdue to finish the year.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.