Indiana Cruises Past Western Kentucky 38-0, Moves to 3-0

Written by: TJ Inman

After a sloppy and unconvincing first quarter at Memorial Stadium, Isaiah “Bones” Jones intercepted Brock Glenn and returned it inside of the five-yard line just before halftime. Two plays later, Lee Beebe punched it in to give IU a 14-0 lead and firm control over the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. The Hoosiers scored to begin the second half and used a strong 17-0 third quarter to pull away and then cruised for the 38-0 victory, improving to 3-0 on the 2026 season. Indiana missed some chances on offense but ultimately outgained Western Kentucky 513-186 and were dominant in the second 30 minutes.

How it Happened For the Hoosiers

• Josh Hoover’s stat line looks quite good: 18-24 for 273 with two touchdowns and turnovers. It’s fair to say that it could have been better and the TCU transfer missed a few opportunities for big plays due to sloppy footwork. It’s still a work in progress and there was plenty of good and a little bit of bad.
• Western Kentucky’s short-yardage execution was, in a word, woeful. That written, IU’s defense deserves credit for making plays against the Hilltoppers and halting drives on fourth and short or fourth and goal. WKU ended up with only three yards per play.
• Curt Cignetti is now 30-2 as Indiana’s head coach and remains unbeaten at home. Those numbers are easy to overlook but that is truly remarkable.
• Indiana struggled a bit to run between the tackles but both backs found success on the edges.
• Indiana laid some really punishing hits on Brock Glenn and the WKU receivers. For the final three quarters of the game, the Hilltoppers had absolutely no success on offense.

Standout Stats From IU’s Win

• Turbo Richard was outstanding: 15 carries for 149 yards with one touchdown
• Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh were basically uncoverable for Western Kentucky today. Becker had 127 yards and a touchdown on five receptions while Marsh had seven catches for 81 yards and some very nice blocking.
• Indiana only had one penalty (a holding that took a long Josh Hoover run off the board) and did not turn the ball over. A clean and professional outing in those regards.
• Western Kentucky averaged only three yards per play. IU ended up with 7.77 yards per play.
• The Hilltoppers dominated time of possession in the first quarter but IU ended up with the ball for 34:51 of this game.