Isaih Pacheco rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns, lifting Rutgers to a 38-3 win over Indiana on Saturday in Big Ten play at Bloomington, Ind.
The Scarlet Knights (5-5, 2-5 Big Ten) moved within a win of bowl eligibility by taking advantage of Indiana mistakes. Rutgers scored 17 points off of two Indiana turnovers and a muffed punt. Starting quarterback Noah Vedral added 97 yards passing and a rushing touchdown for the Scarlet Knights.
The Hoosiers (2-8 0-7) dropped their sixth straight game. Indiana used three quarterbacks — starting true freshman Donaven McCulley before turning to Jack Tuttle and Grant Gremel. None were effective. Tuttle, making his first appearance since suffering a foot injury on Oct. 23 against Ohio State, threw two interceptions before suffering a leg injury in the second quarter that forced him out of the game.
Rutgers cashed in on an early Indiana turnover. On the opening play of the game, Rutgers recovered a fumble at Indiana’s 21-yard line on a botched exchange from McCulley to running back Davion
Ervin-Poindexter. Four plays later, Pacheco scored on an 8-yard touchdown run, giving Rutgers a quick 7-0 lead.
The Scarlet Knights extended their lead to 14-0 later in the first quarter, putting together a 9-play, 70-yard drive, capped by a 3-yard touchdown run from Pacheco.
Early in the second quarter, Rutgers converted more points off an Indiana turnover when linebacker Tyreem Powell intercepted a Tuttle pass at the Rutgers 24-yard line. The possession ended with
Valentino Ambrosio’s 38-yard field goal, extending the Rutgers lead to 17-0.
Indiana got on the scoreboard late in the first half. McCulley connected with receiver Ty Fryfogle on a 46-yard pass play down to the Rutgers 29-yard line with 16 seconds left in the first half. After missing a 38-yard field goal earlier in the game, Charles Campbell connected on a 47-yard field goal with two seconds left in the first half, cutting the Rutgers lead to 17-3.
Rutgers extended its lead to 24-3 with 12:27 left on a 10-yard scoring run by Aaron Young, which came after Fryfogle lost a fumble on a punt return at the Indiana’s 10-yard line.
Raiqwon O’Neal scored later in the third quarter on a tackle eligible play, taking a lateral pass from Vedral for a 7-yard TD run to put Rutgers up 31-3.
–Field Level Media
