Indiana football beats FIU 31-7 : Three things we learned

Daunted? Never.

And we are off. The first drive of the game featured some week one jitters with multiple drops from a highly-touted receiving core, but the Curt Cignetti era opened with a bang aside from that drive.

Before a couple of breakdowns on the defensive end to close out the first half, Indiana appeared set to cover the three touchdown spread by halftime. The offense was clicking, the defense was stifling, and the team was dominating an inferior opponent.

All things that it failed to do last year, or for much of the last three seasons.

It wasn’t perfect, but very few teams are in week one of the season. Avoiding the week one upset and doing so comfortably are about all you can hope for in a matchup like this. The Hoosiers more than answered the bell on that.

From here on out, the season may be an exercise in managing expectations and remembering that this is just the first year of a new coach, new team, and new era for the program.

Here are three things we learned:

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The New Indiana

My god, what a difference a year makes. By the end of the first quarter today, it was very apparent that Curt Cignetti has had more success in establishing a program identity than his predecessors had over their entire tenures.

Before I’m accused of overreacting to a win over a Bad Team, let me remind you that it took four overtimes for Indiana to knock off an Akron team that went on to win a total of two (2) games last season.

On offense, Indiana’s play-calling had Florida International on its heels the entire first half – something I haven’t been able to say of a Hoosier offense since Kalen DeBoer and company left town. Even he was hampered by inconsistent performances from the offensive line.

Which brings my to my next point: Keeping Bob Bostad was obviously the correct call. In just one game with Indiana, Ty Son Lawton scored twice. That would have left him in a five-way tie for second place behind Brendan Sorsby for rushing touchdowns on the 2023 roster.

There are really only so many ways to say it, but it’s clear that the Vibe has changed in Bloomington. I suddenly don’t think my prediction of six wins gives this group enough credit.

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Kurtis Rourke

Depending on how you looked at it, Indiana’s quarterback situation over the last three seasons has either been very bleak or very frustrating. No matter which side you took, things weren’t good.

That is not the case this year. It wasn’t Big Ten competition, but Kurtis Rourke looked how you would expect a conference player of the year to look in this opening game.

Even with the first possession drops, Rourke managed to complete over 75% of his passes for 147 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He spread the ball around too, with seven different receivers catching passes and four with multiple catches.

Most importantly, Rourke managed to avoid the big time mistakes. He was credited with two fumbles, but Indiana recovered both. When his protection broke down, he showed an ability to extend the play, improvise, and protect his body/the ball as needed.

He also did this:

Assuming this receiving core continues to live up to the preseason hype, Rourke looks set to have a very productive season with Indiana.

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Winning

Over the last three seasons, Indiana has strung together enough plays and drives to keep people interested. It just wasn’t able to do anything consistent enough on either side of the ball to amount to anything better than 9-27 record over that span.

Despite slowing down in the second half, Indiana’s offense didn’t stop. Adding points in the third and fourth quarters not only helped the Hoosiers cover the spread, but also kept the Panthers from getting excited and sticking around the game.

The same goes for the defense, which blanked FIU in the second half and set up Elijah Green’s 51-yard fourth quarter touchdown run with a stop on fourth and one. The game had clearly been won at that point, but Indiana didn’t leave anything left to doubt.

This is how winning teams start and end games. For the first time since 2020, Indiana looks like a winning team and acted the part today.