Western Illinois brings 25-game losing streak to Indiana

Western Illinois brings 25-game losing streak to Indiana

After thumping Florida International in its home and season opener on Saturday, Indiana is bracing for the challenge of hosting Western Illinois on a short week.

The Hoosiers (1-0) will face the Leathernecks (0-1) in a non-conference game Friday night in Bloomington, Ind., in the teams' lone non-Saturday game of the season.

"I've played Thursday. I've played Friday. I've played Saturday," Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. "We just get ready to play when we're asked to play."

Indiana looked prepared in the program's first game under Cignetti, defeating FIU 31-7 behind a stout ground game that saw the Hoosiers gain 234 yards on 40 carries.

Ty Son Lawton sparked the attack, rushing 16 times for 74 yards and two touchdowns. Justice Ellison added 10 carries for 68 yards, and Elijah Green had a 51-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter to seal the season-opening romp.

The Hoosiers scored on three of their first four possessions, with quarterback Kurtis Rourke adding a touchdown pass to Zach Horton and finishing with 180 yards on 15-of-24 passing.

Cignetti praised the team's effort on both sides of the ball and said he's looking for more of the same against the Leathernecks, who are coming off a 54-15 loss to Northern Illinois.

As for the Hoosiers, they tallied eight tackles for loss and four sacks against FIU while allowing just 53 yards on the ground.

"That's kind of how we pride ourselves on playing defense," Cignetti said.

Friday will mark the first meeting between Indiana and Western Illinois. The Hoosiers boast a 14-game winning streak against FCS opponents and are 17-1 overall against such schools.

Western Illinois has lost a program-record 25 straight games. To end that skid, first-year coach Joe Davis said "we're going to have to shore up" a defense that allowed too many "explosive plays" against Northern Illinois, which gained 706 yards.

The Leathernecks had no turnovers behind senior quarterback Nathan Lamb and had a special-teams highlight when Fredrik Greenhoward recovered a blocked NIU extra point and returned it 100-plus yards for a two-point conversion.

--Field Level Media