INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WDRB) — Over the 36 seasons since Indiana beat Louisville in the only two games the football programs played, you could settle the debate about the more powerful program in several short paragraphs.
The Cards posted 25 winning seasons, IU 9. The Cards won 11 bowl games, the Hoosiers 2.
No need to mention the Cards’ Heisman Trophy winner, Lamar Jackson, or the pair of visits ESPN’s College GameDay program made to campus.
The disparity, and Indiana’s continuing struggle to schedule itself to at least six victories every season, explained why the Hoosiers paid $1 million to buy their way out of the final 2 years of what was supposed to be a 3-game series with the Cardinals.
But the blocking and tackling on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday afternoon suggested these were two programs that should have played on as the coach Jeff Brohm and the Cardinals wanted to do.
Louisville 21, Indiana 14 — in a game that was closer than the score suggests. It wasn't decided until the final series. Isn't that what the people want?
The Cards finished with more yards (422-357), but the Hoosiers more than doubled U of L's yardage (250-120) in the second half.
The afternoon was all drama — with Louisville’s T.J. Quinn and Stanquan Clark delivering a punishing tackle of IU halfback Josh Henderson inside the Cards’ 1-yard line with 4:39 to play to preserve Louisville’s third win.
It was a remarkably poised play by Quinn and Clark, considering Indiana was only 18 inches from the goal line and running a play schemed during a timeout.
"We thought quarterback sneak first and then when the big back (Henderson) came in, that was the second choice," Brohm said.
"We had jumbo (package) in so it was our big guys against their big guys," said U of L safety Kam'Ron Kelly. "I'll take that every time."
It was also a remarkably stupid play call by IU offensive coordinator Walt Bell, who lined Henderson up 6 yards behind the line of scrimmage and expected him to either power or vault to the touchdown.
Didn’t happen. Henderson is not that kind of back. Doesn't have elite quickness or the power of Stevie Scott, who was a force around the goal line for IU 3 years ago. The play took forever to unfold and U of L's superior speed attacked the edge of IU's blocking.
And Louisville made a key shift along its defensive front that appeared to un-nerve IU quarterback Tayven Jackson into taking the snap a bit too soon.
No touchdown. No need to take a second look.
After looking like a team that did not belong on the same turf with the Cardinals while slipping behind 21-0 in the first half, the Hoosiers staggered Louisville with a successful on-side kick to start the second half and stretched the drama over the entire 30 minutes, in front of a crowd of 22,840 that appeared to be more than 60% Louisville fans.
The first half was all Louisville. The Cards scored on 3 of their first 4 possessions while missing a 38-yard field goal. Louisville out-gained IU by 116 yards.
Jamari Thrash flashed through the IU secondary for a dazzling 85-yard touchdown pass. Jawhar Jordan rolled through the middle of the IU defense for a 25-yard score.
The second half was different. Considerably different. IU jarred the Cardinals with a sharply executed on-side kick that the Hoosiers recovered on the IU 46-yard line.
"I was disappointed in the on-side kick," Brohm said. "We knew it was coming. We talked about it a lot (at halftime) but obviously our plan wasn't good enough."
They scored in 3 plays. Game on. The Hoosiers scored again with 55 seconds remaining in the third quarter. But failed to earn any points on their only 2 possessions of the second half.
Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer had another solid but not spectacular day. He completed 13 of 23 passes for 238 yards with a touchdown and interception. But he consistently out-ran IU defenders on the edge, especially on a 13-yard scramble on first down out of the end zone after the goal-line stop. He finished with 42 yards rushing on 8 carries.
"I'm not Lamar Jackson and I'm not Malik Cunningham," Plummer said.
"I think I've proved I'm all right running the ball. So if that's something I have to do, I will do it for the team."
For IU, Tayven Jackson played like a quarterback who can win Big Ten games -- if Indiana's offensive line can help create a running game. IU averaged 2.7 yards per carry on 27 attempts for 58 yards.
Jackson finished 24 of 34 for 299 yards. He threw the first TD pass of his career, a sizzling 30-yard strike to Jaylin Lucas.
Now 3-0, the Cards will return to Atlantic Coast Conference play. Louisville scored more touchdowns against the Hoosiers in 28 minutes than Ohio State did in 60. That is the offense Brohm must find moving forward.
Indiana (1-2) will continue its challenging uphill search to find 5 more victories over the final 9 games of its schedule to qualify for a bowl game for the first time since the 2020 season.
Louisville returns home to play Boston College at 3:30 p.m. next Saturday. On the same day, Indiana will host Akron at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington at 7:30 p.m.
But, really, shouldn't these teams be playing twice more, as they agreed to do in 2015?
"Everybody has to do what's best for them," Brohm said. "I know from my stand point we always love playing in-state rivalries or regional rivalries."
Especially when the games are as compelling as this one.
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