Indiana Holds Off Northwestern 29-23 to Stay Unbeaten
Two points on a first-quarter safety started it, and Indiana never trailed. It also never put Northwestern away, which is why this ended up as a 29-23 game that was still live with under a minute to play.
Indiana added a 43-yard Nico Radicic field goal and an eight-yard touchdown pass from Josh Hoover to Nick Marsh for a 12-0 lead in the second quarter. Northwestern got on the board in the third on a four-yard pass from Aidan Chiles to Griffin Wilde, and Radicic's 22-yarder made it 15-7 going into the fourth. Wilde caught another from eight yards early in the fourth, the two-point try failed, and it was 15-13. Lee Beebe Jr. ran four yards for 22-13, and Chiles ran for a seven-yard score with 5:10 left to make it 22-20. Hoover answered with a one-yard run, 29-20, and Jackson Kleather's 42-yard field goal with 58 seconds left cut it to six.
The yards say Indiana won it on the ground. The Hoosiers ran 39 times for 272 yards (Beebe had 24 carries for 203), while Northwestern ran 26 times for 33. Northwestern's offense lived in the air, 293 yards and 22 of 29 from Chiles, but Indiana sacked him four times and neither team turned the ball over.
Indiana is 4-0 and Northwestern is 2-1. The Wildcats lost by one score with 293 passing yards and a rushing game that gained 33. Fantasy owners should be fine with Chiles (29.7 points) and Beebe (27.5), who split the top of the board.