BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Ty Son Lawton rushed for two scores in the first half, Kurtis Rourke threw for another score and the new-look Indiana Hoosiers pulled away from Florida International 31-7 in Saturday’s season opener.
Lawton carried 16 times for 74 yards in his first game with the Hoosiers (1-0). Rourke finished 15 of 24 with 180 yards in his Indiana debut, and Curt Cignetti became the first Hoosiers head coach to win his first game since 2007.
The Panthers (0-1) have lost five straight and eight of their last nine dating to last season, falling to 0-13 all-time against Big Ten schools.
Keyone Jenkins completed 20 of 29 passes for 129 yards with one interception and hooked up with Rocky Beers for a 7-yard TD pass in the final minute of the first half for Florida International’s only score. Beers left the game with a hamstring injury after the score and was ruled out of the game in the second half.
Indiana sealed it with a 51-yard TD run from Elijah Green with 1:06 to play.
The takeaway
Florida International: The Panthers were simply overmatched, even against an opponent that had a complete offseason overhaul.
Indiana: With 54 new players on the roster, there were plenty of questions about whether the Hoosiers would look in sync. They did — though there’s plenty to correct. Indiana must show it can repeat this performance — on a short week — before the schedule gets tougher.
Delay of game
Florida International’s troubles started well before kickoff — with a late arrival at Memorial Stadium. One of the team’s four charter buses broke down about 20 minutes from the stadium and they made it less than two hours before the scheduled 3:30 p.m. kickoff.
Up next
Florida International: Hosts Central Michigan at the recently renamed Pitbull Stadium next Saturday.
Indiana: Welcomes Western Illinois to Bloomington on Friday.
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