Lofty expectations skew Indiana football grades down curve in win vs Western Kentucky

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football slammed the door shut on Western Kentucky coming out of halftime Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.

The No. 4 Hoosierswon 38-0 to finish out their nonconference schedule with a perfect record for a third straight season.

Here's a report card for Saturday's win:

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IU offense not quite living up to lofty expectations

Offense: B-

Josh Hoover put together what might have been his best drive of the season to get IU on the board. He layered in a throw on the sideline to Charlie Becker that was as pretty of a throw as fans will see this season. Hoover went 7 of 7 for 80 yards with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Davion Chandler. He later hit Becker for a 79-yard touchdown that will go on their ever growing highlight reel.

The final numbers look solid — IU averaged better than 7.0 yards per play and topped 400 yards of total offense — but the run game looked stuck in neutral until the fourth quarter and Hoover missed on a couple easy opportunities in the first half that would have blown the game before halftime.

There were fans grumbling on social media about the performance, but that speaks to their huge expectations for this group.

Rewind: IU completes nonconference play with win over WKU

IU defense delivers another shutout

Defense: A

Indiana's defense came up with a second straight shutout. It's the first time since 2017 the Hoosiers have had two shutouts in the same season and only the second time since 1958 they've had shutouts in consecutive games (1993). After the Hilltoppers threatened to score late in the first quarter, they ran just four plays on IU's side of the field. The Hoosiers came up with three stops on fourth down and an interception to turn the game into a blowout.

Charlie Becker takes on punt return duties

Special teams: B

Yes, Indiana missed a field goal, but it was a 54-yard attempt from kickoff specialist Paddy McAteer. Becker replaced Tyler Morris as IU's starting punt returner, but didn't get a chance to return one. There just wasn't a whole lot of opportunities for the Hoosiers special teams units to impact the game.

Rolijah Hardy stars for IU in win vs Western Kentucky

Player of the game: Rolijah Hardy

Jones came through with the interception, but Hardy was all over the field. He led the team with nine tackles (six solo) with two for a loss and a quarterback hit. He's a cheat code with the way he can seamlessly move from dropping back in coverage to chasing down the quarterback on a blitz. There might not be a better match of a player and coach with defensive coordinator Bryant Haines in the country.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lofty expectations skew Indiana football grades down curve in win vs Western Kentucky

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