Inside the Hall logo

Instant recap: Indiana 38, Michigan State 13

  • 2h ago
 

Elijah Sarratt catches a touchdown pass against Michigan State.

Quick thoughts on IU football’s 38-13 win against Michigan State at Memorial Stadium in front of 55,165 fans:

Key plays for the Hoosiers

Fernando Mendoza’s touchdown pass to E.J. Williams Jr. puts IU on the board

After Michigan State opened the game with a drive that lasted nearly seven minutes and ended with a 38-yard field goal from Martin Connington, the Hoosiers quickly responded.

Mendoza capped off an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 13-yard pass to Williams to put the Hoosiers up 7-3 with 2:40 left in the opening quarter.

The Heisman frontrunner threw for 56 yards on the opening drive for the Hoosiers, completing six of his seven pass attempts.

39-yard reception by Riley Nowakowski sets up second touchdown

The Spartans regained the lead on an Aiden Chiles touchdown pass to Nick Marsh, but the Hoosiers had a quick response.

On 2nd and 17 from its own 37, Mendoza found Nowakowski for a 39-yard completion to put IU on the Michigan State 24-yard line.

One play later, Mendoza’s touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt put the Hoosiers back ahead, 14-10, with 6:47 to play in the second quarter.

Hoosiers take control with third touchdown on third drive of the game

Michigan State dominated time of possession in the first half, but came away with just one touchdown and a field goal on its four possessions.

Indiana, meanwhile, scored on all three of its first-half possessions. The final score of the opening 30 minutes by the Hoosiers came on a 29-yard touchdown run from Kaelon Black.

That touchdown, IU’s third of the afternoon, made it a 21-10 lead with just under a minute left in the half. Despite a stellar first half, Michigan State trailed by two scores at intermission, a sign of just how dominant Indiana has been through its first seven games.

Mendoza’s fourth touchdown pass puts Michigan State away

Indiana extended its lead to four scores – and put the game away for good – with a beautiful pass by Mendoza to Sarratt with just under four minutes left in the third quarter.

The first-year IU quarterback made an NFL-level throw to Sarratt, a 27-yard strike, to put the Hoosiers ahead 35-10.

At that point, Mendoza’s line: 20 completions on 23 attempts, four touchdowns and 298 yards. There was no hangover for Mendoza after last week’s triumph at Autzen Stadium.

Offensive standouts

Mendoza only enhanced his Heisman Trophy candidacy with his play against Michigan State. He finished with 332 passing yards and four touchdowns.

His top target on the afternoon was Omar Cooper Jr., who finished with eight catches and 110 receiving yards and a touchdown. Williams had five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown and Sarratt had four catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensive standouts

It was a slow start defensively for the Hoosiers, who allowed a field goal and a touchdown on Michigan State’s first two possessions.

But IU’s defense was lights out from there as the Spartans didn’t score again until a field goal with 36 seconds remaining.

Defensive back Louis Moore led the Hoosiers with 11 tackles and linebacker Aiden Fisher had nine tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss. Defensive lineman Stephen Daley had two sacks.

What’s next for the Hoosiers

Indiana is back at Memorial Stadium next weekend for a matchup against UCLA.

The 7-0 Hoosiers will host the Bruins, who are currently playing Maryland in Los Angeles. A kickoff time and TV designation for next Saturday’s game will be announced on Sunday afternoon.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

See More: Football