Indiana Football improves to 8-0 after 31-17 win against Washington

Without quarterback Kurtis Rourke, Indiana football defeated Washington 31-17 to improve to 8-0 on the season.

With College GameDay in Bloomington, there were a lot of eyes on Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers and they battled to pull out a tough win.

Indiana football struggled on offense to start the game without Kurtis Rourke, but cornerback D’Angelo Ponds stepped up in a big way.

With Washington driving into Indiana territory, Ponds jumped a pass behind the line of scrimmage and took it 65 yards to the house to give Indiana a 7-0 lead.

Ponds had the task of matching up with Washington’s number one target Denzel Boston. Despite being seven inches shorter, Ponds held

Boston to his worst performance of the year as he had just four catches for 43 yards on nine targets.

Later in the first half, Ponds made another highlight play, this time winning a 50/50 ball to give the Hoosier offense great field position.

Indiana football capitalized two plays later when Tayven Jackson found Omar Cooper Jr. for a 42-yard touchdown.

Other than that, it was a difficult day for Jackson and the passing offense against a stellar Washington defense.

Jackson completed 11-of-19 of his attempts for 124 yards and one touchdown while throwing an interception. He also rushed for 17 yards and a touchdown.

Jackson spread the ball around as nine different Hoosiers caught a pass in the game.

Myles Price caught two passes for 30 yards, but his biggest contribution came on special teams. In the fourth quarter with Indiana football leading by 10, Price returned a punt 65 yards down to the Washington 14-yard line which set up the game-sealing touchdown.

Indiana football relied on the rushing attack, specifically Justice Ellison.

Ellison rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown on a season-high 29 attempts. He helped seal the game late in the fourth quarter with a huge 11-yard run on 3rd and 6 with under 5 minutes left.

Ty Son Lawton also added 41 rushing yards on 12 attempts.

As a team, the Hoosiers rushed for 188 yards on 52 attempts.

The play of the defense was critical for Indiana in today’s game.

Once again the linebacker tandem stepped up for Indiana football. Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker were all over the field making plays for the Hoosiers.

Walker finished the game with eight tackles and a pass breakup.

Fisher led the team with nine tackles and also had a pass breakup. Fisher left the game in the fourth quarter, but the defense never went back on the field after his injury so his status is unknown.

Safety Shawn Asbury II had another big week for Indiana football. Asbury made eight tackles, including one tackle for loss, and he had a sack.

Defensive lineman Mikail Kamara also had a strong day, making five tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss. He also had a big third-down sack.

Without their quarterback, the Hoosiers faced some adversity today and showed their resilience under Cignetti with a strong response.

Now 8-0, Indiana football will be back in action next weekend when they travel to face Michigan State in the Battle for the Old Brass Spittoon.

SEE ALSO: HoosierIllustrated Live Blog: FINAL – Indiana football 31, Washington 17

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