The Indiana offense in the first half of Saturday's 42-28 victory over Maryland was on par with the weather: dreary and dull.
After a pair of interceptions thrown by Kurtis Rourke to open the game, there should have been a sense of panic on the Indiana sideline. Things weren't going as planned offensively for the majority of the first half.
Rourke and the offense didn't blink.
The final drive of the first half was when the Indiana offense finally started firing on all cylinders. A combined 54 yards in two plays that resulted in Omar Cooper Jr. finding the end zone to give the Hoosiers a leap of confidence, and more importantly, a lead at the half.
"I know that Kurtis [Rourke] will always trust me," Cooper said in reflection of the late-half touchdown drive. "I just made a play when the ball was in the air."
The three-play, 63-yard drive, spanning just 32 seconds, catapulted the Hoosier offense to a 28-point outburst in the second half.
"It's something we wished would have happened sooner," Rourke said. "It brought a lot of confidence to me."
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti knew his signal caller was due for a bounce-back drive in the half.
"[Rourke] responded like I kind of felt like he would," Cignetti said. "I didn't think he'd be flustered by the two interceptions, and he wasn't."
Although it didn't quite appear on the scoreboard, Indiana had a statically solid half offensively.
Indiana had a total of 237 yards of total offense in the half. Rourke was 13-of-19 in the air for 192 yards and a touchdown, while the run game added 45-yards on the ground.
The turnovers and lack of points presented Indiana an opportunity to battle something they hadn't been faced with all season long: adversity.
"Just flush it right away," Rourke said of the adversity. "You've got to reset and stay emotionally stable."
The second half was when Indiana found its groove offensively.
Rourke, who's been dubbed by Cignetti as "a grisly old vet", guided the offense in scoring on four of their seven second-half possessions.
The sixth-year senior completed nine passes for 167 yards and two touchdowns.
However, it wasn't just the patented air raid that pushed Indiana over the edge in the final half-hour; the 106 yards on the ground provided another two touchdowns.
The versatility and depth within the offense have allowed Indiana to run like a well-oiled machine in the first five games of the season.
"We play those three backs every game, and they've been really consistent," Cignetti said of the running back room. "If we didn't turn it over four times, maybe we would have had 200."
After the defense surrendered a one-play, 75-yard touchdown, Indiana went three and out, but the defense mustered up a quick stop.
"Our defense was amazing," Rourke said. "It's something we noticed as an offense."
While the defense did the work stymying Maryland, the offense scored on three of their next four possessions.
The dominance on both sides of the football in the second half has been something Indiana has displayed all season long, but not quite like Saturday afternoon.
The victory in the wake of adversity is a microcosm of where Indiana football is heading under Curt Cignetti; as per usual, Cignetti knows that there are still things that his team needs to improve upon.
"Far from perfect, trust me." We can play better than we played today."
Indiana is now 5-0 for the first time since the 1967 season (which ended in a trip to the Rose Bowl) and looks to become the first bowl-eligible Big Ten program in 2024 in Evanston against Northwestern.
"This isn't the end for us," Cignetti said. "I'm proud of the team and everything they've accomplished."
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