Indiana football kicked off the Curt Cignetti era on Saturday against Florida International.
Behind the numerous new transfers and a strong showing from the Hoosiers' offense, Indiana came out on top of FIU with the week one victory, 31-7.
Here's how it happened.
TRANSFERS PROVIDE INSTANT IMPACT
Curt Cignetti hit the transfer portal hard during his first offseason at the helm of the Hoosiers. On Saturday, in the season opener, many of those transfers showed why Cignetti brought them to Bloomington.
On both sides of the football, Indiana got big contributions from a number of different transfers.
Offensively, transfers accounted for 360 of Indiana's 414 yards on the day.
Through the air, Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke spread the wealth, completing passes to seven different players -- including five different transfers.
Transfer pass catchers Myles Price, Miles Cross and Zach Horton all had strong debuts for the Hoosiers.
On the ground, JMU transfer Ty Son Lawton and Wake Forest transfer Justice Ellison led the charge for Indiana.
On the defensive side of the football, James Madison transfer linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker led the team in tackles on the day. Fisher added a sack and two tackles for loss as well.
Fellow transfers James Carpenter and CJ West were also able to consistently get into the FIU backfield, tallying 0.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 tackles for loss respectively.
RUNNING GAME FIRES ON ALL CYLINDERS
It was Ty Son Lawton that got the nod at tail back for Indiana's first offensive drive of the season. While Lawton may have officially won the starting job, the combination of Lawton and Justice Ellison proved to be too much for FIU's defense to handle in week one.
Lawton carried the ball 16 times for 74 yards in Saturday's contest, consistently gashing the Florida International defense. Lawton also found the end zone twice in the opener.
When Lawton came out of the game, the Panthers defense still had little answer for the Hoosiers' ground attack.
Justice Ellison was the other part of Indiana's two-man rushing attack on Saturday. Ellison tallied 10 carries for 68 yards on the ground.
Elijah Green also added a late surge, carrying the ball five times for 82 yards and a 51-yard touchdown run.
Receiver Myles Price got a single touch in the rushing game, recording 12 yards on a reverse.
One of the unsung heroes of Indiana's big day on the ground was tight end Zach Horton.
Throughout the offseason, Horton spoke about the enjoyment he gets from blocking. On countless plays throughout the season opener, it was Horton's block on the edge or in the second level that allowed Lawton or Ellison to spring forward for extra yardage.
As a team, Indiana ran the ball for 234 yards and three scores. The Hoosiers averaged 5.9 yards per carry.
HOOSIERS FIND RHYTHM IN SHORT PASSING GAME
Kurtis Rourke -- unsurprisingly -- got the starting nod for Indiana on Saturday.
The sixth-year senior looked comfortable operating the Hoosiers' offense throughout the contest. Rourke completed 15 of his 22 pass attempts for 180 yards and one passing touchdonw.
A bulk of Indiana's damage in the passing game came on short, underneath plays.
Rourke and the Hoosiers averaged 12 yards per completion, however 72 of Indiana's 180 receiving yards came after the catch.
Indiana managed to get into an early rhythm on Saturday completing passes underneath and allowing the playmakers out wide to do damage.
The Hoosiers found a ton of success with a variety of short routes in the opener. From screen passes to RPOs, most of Indiana's success in the passing game in week on came on underneath throws.
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