Rutgers football routed by Indiana, falls to 1-4 | Instant analysis

PISCATAWAY – If Rutgers football was going to have any chance at putting up a fight against defending champion Indiana, it was going to have to close to perfectly, something it hasn’t come close to doing all season.

Nothing changed against the Hoosiers.

The Scarlet Knights’ beleaguered defense gave up too many big plays and their offense couldn’t keep pace in a 47-15 loss to Indiana, ranked No. 5 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, at SHI Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 3.

Greg Schiano’s team fell to 1-4 with the loss as it now enters a critical bye week.

This was a rough game for Rutgers in many ways – starting quarterback Dylan Lonergan was out of the game in the first half with an apparently injury and was replaced by AJ Surace, who did throw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Ben Black in the third quarter.

But that was one of the few bright spots for the Scarlet Knights, who had just 254 yards of offense. They only rushed for 59 yards as a team.

Meanwhile their defense was completely overmatched all night long, surrendering 593 total yards to the Hoosiers.

Indiana running back Turbo Richard finished with 204 rushing yards on 13 carries with one touchdown, while Lee Beebe Jr. rushed for 122 yards on 18 carries with one score.

Quarterback Josh Hoover finished 20-of-27 passing for 251 yards and four touchdowns.

Schiano said earlier in the week that limiting big plays was going to be important, and the Scarlet Knights didn’t come close to doing that.

Indiana averaged 8.7 yards per play.

Now Rutgers has a week off to try and find some answers to get through the rest of the season – the first game out of the bye week is at Maryland, who’s struggling as much as the Scarlet Knights.

If the defense continues to play this way, Rutgers is going to have a hard time beating anybody.

Travis Johansen’s unit just hasn’t been good enough.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers football routed by Indiana, falls to 1-4 | Instant analysis