How Did IU's Opponents Perform in Week Four

Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Florida International 14 - UCF 53

Things have quickly gone downhill for the FIU Golden Panthers. They are now 0-4 and this loss was the final straw for head coach Ron Turner’s tenure in Miami. He was let go after the game as UCF outgained the Golden Panthers 501-189.

Ball State 31 – Florida Atlantic – 27

The Ball State Cardinals are now 3-1 under new head coach Mike Neu, with their lone loss coming to the Hoosiers. Riley Neal was 23-37 for 252 yards and the Cardinals ran for 226 yards (to the Owls 121 on the ground) as BSU erased a 14-0 first quarter deficit to snag the road victory.

Michigan State 6 – Wisconsin 30

We’ll have plenty of content throughout the week on the Spartans but the Green and White were never close in this one as the Wisconsin Badgers drilled Michigan State thanks to four MSU turnovers and a strong run defense. 

Ohio State – BYE

Nebraska 24 – Northwestern 13

The Northwestern Wildcats fell to 1-3 as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, now 4-0, ran for 310 yards and cruised to a 24-13 victory in Evanston on Saturday night. Tommy Armstrong needed to have a strong senior season for Nebraska to be successful and he was very good in this one, running for 132 yards and throwing for 246 yards with a score. The Huskers showcased a strong running attack as Terrell Newby ran for 69 yards and a touchdown. In total, Nebraska ran the ball 47 times for an average of 6.6 yards per carry. Nebraska, now ranked 15th in the country, hosts Illinois and then has a bye week before playing the Hoosiers so they will very likely be 5-0 and a fringe top ten team when they come to Bloomington.

Northwestern’s offense showed some signs of life and Clayton Thorson threw for 249 yards, including 109 yards to top target Austin Carr, but it wasn’t near enough. Justin Jackson still doesn’t look like himself, only running for 79 yards and adding 18 receiving yards. Both teams had a pair of turnovers but Nebraska outgained the Wildcats 556-388 and had possession for more than 35 minutes of the game. Northwestern now travels to Iowa and East Lansing before hosting IU on October 22.

Maryland – BYE

Rutgers 7 – Iowa 14

The Iowa Hawkeyes (3-1) continue to struggle on offense but their defense did enough to lock up the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-2) and steal a road win in the first ever meeting between the two schools. C.J. Beathard was only 12-23 for a mere 162 yards as Rutgers out-gained Iowa 383 to 355 as Iowa’s offense appears to have reverted to the kind of conservative scheming that frustrated Iowa fans prior to last season. Rutgers got 106 yards from Robert Martin and 74 yards from Justin Goodwin plus an encouraging effort from their defense. However, top receiver and special teams demon Janarion Grant was felled by a tackle during this game and it was later announced he would miss the remainder of the 2016 season with a leg injury. His loss is a huge blow for a team that was already struggling to generate a productive attack.

Penn State 10 – Michigan 49

This game was a pretty clear indicator of where these two programs currently stand in the Big Ten pecking order as the Michigan Wolverines (4-0) physically overwhelmed the Penn State Nittany Lions (2-2) in a blowout at the Big House. There had been some concerns about Michigan’s running game but it looked quite impressive on Saturday, pounding PSU to the tune of 326 yards, six rushing touchdowns and 6.7 yards per carry. It’s hard to pick a standout running back because nearly everyone that ran the ball found success: De’Veon Smith (12 for 107 and a TD), Karan Higdon (9 for 81 with two TDs), Ty Isaac (11 for 74 and a TD), Chris Evans (8 for 56 and a TD). Wilton Speight was only 21 for 34 but the passing game was scarcely needed as Michigan raced out to a 28-0 halftime lead and cruised to the finish. 

Trace McSorley was 16-27 for only 121 yards and Saquon Barkley was kept in check, gaining only 59 yards on 15 carries (he did have 77 receiving yards). This was the second game that saw PSU’s run defense get destroyed (Pitt also had great rushing success) and their offense was unable to keep up with Michigan, only scoring once the game was well in hand for the Wolverines.

Purdue 24 – Nevada 14

The Purdue Boilermakers got their second victory of the season, knocking off Nevada 24-14, thanks to 300 yards from David Blough and 124 rushing yards from Markell Jones. Purdue out-gained the Wolfpack 466-253 but four turnovers (a consistent problem for this team) kept Nevada in the game. Markell Jones is a very good player but they lack a secondary running threat. The wide receiver group continues to be a bright spot for Purdue as DeAngelo Yancey (7 for 78 yards) had another nice game. Bilal Marshall flashed potential, catching five passes for 82 yards with a touchdown. If he can join Yancey and Domonique Young as a consistent threat, the passing game could become a handful. Nevada has a very weak offense so it’s difficult to take much from the performance of the defense but they did manage to keep the Wolfpack off the board in the second 30 minutes. The Boilermakers now hit the road for three of their next four games, including this week’s interesting contest at Maryland.