Indiana Survives Scare From Northwestern

The defending national champion and No. 5-ranked Indiana Hoosiers escaped defeat on Friday by holding off Northwestern, 29–23.

Indiana never led by more than 12 points, and the Hoosiers needed a late touchdown run by quarterback Josh Hoover to take a two-score lead with 1:56 left.

Northwestern kicker Jackson Kleather put the Wildcats back within a score with a 42-yard field goal and 58 seconds left. Fellow Wildcats kicker Henry Helms ultimately couldn’t get the ball back with a failed onside kick.

“I tried to tell everybody Northwestern was a good football team, but nobody was buying that,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti told reporters afterward. “Two years ago if people said Indiana was a good football team people weren’t buying that stock either.”

To Cignetti’s point, Northwestern has long been known as a cellar dweller in the Big Ten, and the Wildcats’ rare big-time winning seasons are Cinderella stories. Northwestern (2–1) held off FCS powerhouse South Dakota State, 34–18, to open the season on Sept. 5, and that game was on the upset radar.

The Wildcats’ 41–7 win over Deion Sanders’ Colorado team on Sept. 19 came as a surprise, but the Buffaloes aren’t considered contenders by any means. On Friday, Northwestern challenged the defending champs, a program that has a 20-game winning streak since last season.  

That said, Cignetti knows where Northwestern has been, as Indiana was with the Wildcats at the bottom of the Big Ten before his arrival in 2024 from James Madison. Cignetti led the Hoosiers to the first 12-team College Football Playoff, which was considered a historic Cinderella season for the second-worst program all-time.

Northwestern is the most losing Power Four program all-time, but the Wildcats have been fighting their way out of that for years. The Wildcats’ biggest moment in the past three decades came in 1995 with a Rose Bowl appearance, but Northwestern has since produced nine seasons of eight wins or more since then.

On Friday, Northwestern looked to top the program’s all-time greatest upset of then-No. 9 Notre Dame in 1995. Wildcats quarterback Aidan Chiles did his part to pose that threat with 293 yards passing, two touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown.

“Oh, we couldn’t tackle the quarterback. Plain and simple,” Cignetti said. “Couldn’t tackle him. We would have pressure on him; couldn’t tackle him.”

Down 12–0 in the third quarter, Chiles hit wide receiver Griffin Wilde for a 4-yard touchdown pass, and the Wildcats were in business. Chiles connected with Wilde again in the fourth quarter to cut the score to 15–13, and Chiles’ 7-yard touchdown run answered another Indiana score, 22–20.

Indiana had its challenges offensively with 9-15 on third downs and 1-2 on fourth downs despite 472 total yards. The Hoosiers only had one touchdown in the first half and didn’t get in the end zone again until the fourth quarter, with running back Lee Beebe Jr.’s 4-yard run and Hoover’s run later.

“Well, they were mixing it up, blitzing it a bit, defeating blocks,” Cignetti said. “It’s not scheme. It’s winning the one-on-one battles. They’re a good defense.”

Hoover finished with 19-29 passing for 201 yards and a touchdown pass plus his running score, but it was Beebe really shouldering the load. Beebe rushed for 203 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

“He’s got as much heart as anybody that’s been in this program the last three years,” Cignetti said. “I would compare his heart to [former running back] Kaelon Black’s heart. He’s a guy that was doing really well and got hurt last year, so he lost the season. Boy, we really needed him, and he carried the load.”

Indiana improved to 4–0, and things won’t get easier for the defending champions soon. The Hoosiers take on a 3–0 Nebraska team next, and Ohio State is around the corner after that.