IU football’s Curt Cignetti makes program history
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — The Indiana University football team’s magical start to the season continued on Saturday.
The Hoosiers (4-0, 1-0) beat Charlotte (1-3) by the final of 52-14 inside Memorial Stadium.
With the victory, IU head coach Curt Cignetti became the first head coach at IU to win his first four games after taking over the program.
IU never trailed on the game. It scored the first ten points of the contest and ultimately took a 31-14 lead into the locker room at halftime.
“They had us on our heels, our defense, with some shifting motioning, running the ball right at us, I know
defensive coaches aren’t particularly pleased,” Cignetti said. “We weren’t really crisp and sharp offensively early, either. We missed some opportunities, but we did score a lot of points, had another dominant win. I thought special teams overall was solid and we’ll enjoy this one for 24 hours and get ready for conference play.”
IU quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his performance last Saturday against UCLA, finished the game against Charlotte 16-of-20 for 258 passing yards and a passing touchdown. He also had four carries for 32 yards and a rushing touchdown.
IU running back Ty Son Lawton accounted for two touchdowns as well. He scored two rushing touchdowns vs. Charlotte and finished with 35 yards on seven carries.
The Hoosiers offense proved difficult to stop as it had 510 yards of total offense on Saturday. The offense was balanced with 288 passing yards and 222 rushing yards.
IU has now scored 202 points in its first four games, which is the most points scored by any IU team in a four-game stretch in program history.
“We just have to continue to stick to what we do in our training,” Rourke said. “We work really hard, and every day we come in ready to work. We’re going to need to revert back to that when adversity comes and we’re going to have to continue to stay strong and keep going.”
The Hoosiers will play only Big Ten opponents the rest of the way, beginning with Maryland next Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. EDT.