Indiana Wins Season Opener, 34-13, at FIU

Thursday, September 1

Miami, Fla.

7:30 p.m.

Indiana University

1-0

Florida International

0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Indiana

FIU

9/2/2016 12:02:00 AM | Football

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MIAMI – The Indiana defense swarmed the FIU Panthers in a season opening 34-13 win. Tom Allen's defensive unit created 16 of the Hoosiers' 34 points, by way of a safety and a pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns.

"I think that they didn't get rattled," head coach Kevin Wilson said about his defense. "From the start, we knew there would be mistakes, but they were the calmest I've ever seen the team in handling the mistakes. They came over and talked about it and tried to fix it. Coach Allen has great command of that defense, those coaches and players. They made their adjustments, and it was a great effort for the first game."

IU trailed by one point, 13-12, heading into the final quarter of play. Led by Richard Lagow on offense and Tegray Scales' interception on defense, the Hoosiers closed the fourth quarter on a 22-0 scoring run.

Lagow completed an efficient outing in his Indiana debut. He completed 18 of his 27 pass attempts for 240 yards with two total touchdowns, both during a six-minute span in the fourth quarter.

Devine Redding rushed for 135 yards on 22 carries, an average of 6.1 yards per touch. Mike Majette followed with 10 carries and 47 yards, along with a crucial 28-yard gain on a screen pass. As a team, Indiana accumulated 246 yards on the ground, while holding FIU to 63 yards.

In the passing game, Nick Westbrook led eight receivers with six catches and 70 yards, both career-highs. Tight end Danny Friend grabbed two catches and the game's only receiving touchdown, the first of his career.

Jonathan Crawford paced the defensive unit with seven tackles, five solo. The Hoosiers' first three takeaways of the season came via pick-sixes from Rashard Fant and Scales, along with Ben Bach's first career interception.

"I think that has to do with our defensive scheme," Scales commented on the unit's physicality. "There's not a whole lot of thinking we have to do on the field, which means we can play a lot faster. We made a lot of mistakes, but our speed allows us to unleash and fly to the ball."

How it happened:
Florida International took their first possession of the game into field goal range, where they took a 3-0 lead after the Hoosiers defense stalled the drive at the 24-yard line.

Indiana entered the score sheet midway through the first quarter, after a precise special teams play from punter Joseph Gideon. The redshirt sophomore's punt struck just near the sideline at the 2-yard line, and took a favorable bounce out of play inside the 1-yard marker. After just two plays on defense, IU dropped the Panthers for a safety.

Griffin Oakes capped a 50-yard drive and gave the Hoosiers their first lead of the game at 5-3 with a 39-yard field goal.

Fant opened the takeaway account with a pick-six at the start of the second quarter. The Panthers were just two plays into their drive when Fant jumped on a wide route and took the ball 34 yards to the house for a 12-3 lead, after Oakes' PAT.

Florida International regained ground with a 56-yard touchdown drive to cut Indiana's lead to 12-10 at halftime.

A back-and-forth third quarter saw a series of big plays from both defenses, but the score line hung at its resting place from the first half. The Golden Panthers regained the lead in the closing seconds with a 29-yard field goal.

A sequence of three first downs on three plays, including an 11-yard run by Redding, set up the Hoosiers' first offensive touchdown of the season to start the fourth quarter. Lagow connected with a wide open Friend on the left sideline for a 21-yard touchdown pass. A crafty reverse option to Ricky Jones stretched IU's lead to seven.

After five plays the other way, Indiana executed a nine-play, 80-yard drive to double their touchdown lead. Lagow slipped a screen pass to Majette for a 24-yard gain, putting the Hoosiers within 10 yards of the goal line. Lagow took the drive the rest of the way, executing a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 27-13.

The Panthers took the field with four minutes remaining for their last chance to make a comeback. Two plays into that drive, Scales snatched the defense's second of three takeaways and returned it for six.

Indiana's defense preserved their 34-13 lead by cutting short the final Florida International possession. Bach jumped a route for the team's third and final takeaway.

The Hoosiers return to Bloomington for their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 10. IU hosts the Ball State Cardinals at Memorial Stadium, with the kickoff set for 4 p.m. ET on ESPNEWS.