Indiana at Rutgers
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Interstat) — Indiana will put its unbeaten record on the line Saturday when the Hoosiers visit Rutgers in an NCAA Football Bowl Division game at SHI Stadium. The Hoosiers enter 4-0, while the Scarlet Knights are 1-3.
Indiana is coming off a 29-23 win over Northwestern in its most recent game. Josh Hoover, the Hoosiers’ quarterback, passed for 201 yards and accounted for two touchdowns. He also rushed six times for 1 yard. Lee Beebe Jr. rushed 24 times for 203 yards and a touchdown, caught one pass for 2 yards and returned a kickoff, while Turbo Richard ran for 68 yards on nine carries and returned two kickoffs for 35 yards.
Hoover has been productive throughout the season. He passed for 273 yards and two touchdowns against Western Kentucky, threw for 145 yards and four touchdowns against Howard and passed for 231 yards and four touchdowns against North Texas. Hoover has thrown for 850 yards and 11 touchdowns over his last four games. Indiana also has wins over Western Kentucky, Howard and North Texas. The Hoosiers have scored at least 29 points in every game, including 52, 55, 38 and 29 points in their four victories. Indiana’s defense has allowed 23, 0, 0 and 16 points.
Rutgers is coming off a 58-7 win over Howard. Dylan Lonergan passed for 214 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 13 yards in that game. AJ Surace added a touchdown pass, and Sean Ashenfelder completed a pass for 14 yards. The Scarlet Knights opened the season with losses to Massachusetts, Boston College and Southern California before defeating Howard. Rutgers has scored 21, 21, 35 and 58 points.
Lonergan also threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns against Southern California and ran for 27 yards. He has thrown for 466 yards and five touchdowns over his last two games. Rutgers will seek its second straight win. Indiana will counter with Hoover and a running game that produced a 203-yard effort from Beebe in its most recent game.
Indiana will play at Nebraska next, then host Ohio State, visit Michigan, host Minnesota, host Southern California, visit Washington and host Purdue. Rutgers will visit Maryland, visit Northwestern, host Michigan, visit Wisconsin, host Nebraska, visit Penn State and host Michigan State.
Interstat’s game simulator is projecting a final score of Indiana 53, Rutgers 24. Rutgers has been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -24.5. The over/under for this game is 56.5.