IU football sets multiple records in blowout win over Illinois

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WISH) — The No. 19 Indiana University football team made a big statement on the national stage Saturday night.

The Hoosiers demolished No. 9 Illinois by the final of 63-10.

With the win, IU improves to 4-0 overall this season and will likely move up in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll when the new rankings are revealed on Sunday around 2 p.m EDT.

IU’s 63 points are the most points scored by a Big Ten team against an AP Top-10 opponent. The previous record was 62 points, which Ohio State has put up twice against AP Top-10 opponents.

The 53-point victory is also the largest margin of victory ever for the Hoosiers over an AP Top-10 opponent.

A key reason for the Hoosiers’ success was due to the play of quarterback Fernando Mendoza. He finished 21-of-23 for 267 yards and five touchdowns. His 91.3% completion percentage puts him at No. 3 on the program’s game completion percentage chart. Just last week, he set the program record in that category, completing 95% (19-of-20) of his passes against Indiana St.

“I like the way it’s going in the game plan sessions and kind of the plan the last two games,” IU head coach Curt Cignetti said. “And Fernando is the kind of guy – he won’t get big-headed. He’s going to keep his nose to the grindstone, doing a great job preparing and improve.”

IU keeps running the ball well too. On Saturday, it rushed for a total of 312 yards against the Fighting Illini. In fact, IU has now posted four straight 300-yard rushing games for the first time in program history.

On the flip side, Illinois only rushed for two yards in the game. A key reason for that low number is because IU had seven sacks in the victory, the third most in a single game against a Big Ten opponent in program history.

The IU faithful showed its support on Saturday night as well by packing Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium, setting a new program attendance record of 56,088 fans.

“This was the loudest I’ve ever heard (Memorial Stadium),” IU senior linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “It was electric. Everybody did a great job with the red out. It was awesome. By the time we ran out on the field, I couldn’t hear myself think.”

The Hoosiers are back in action this Saturday against Iowa. It will be IU’s first road game of the season.

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