Special teams miscues help bury Idaho in loss at Indiana

From wire and news services

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Idaho likely had to play a near-perfect game to have any kind of chance of knocking off Indiana of the Big Ten on Saturday night.

But two special teams blunders and a fumble led to Hoosiers touchdowns — all before the first half was over.

And another special teams miscue took place in the second half.

The result was a 56-14 Indiana victory over the Vandals before 47,417 at Memorial Stadium.

"Special teams was not good, not good at all," Idaho coach Paul Petrino said. "They scored 21 points on special teams. The offense wasn't very good but we still have to find a way to get more first downs."

For Idaho, coming off a 68-0 pasting of NCAA Division II Simon Fraser, it was a miserable night against a Power 5 conference foe.

A first-quarter fumble by quarterback Mike Beaudry led to Michael Penix Jr.’s first scoring pass, a 9-yarder to Javon Swinton. Four plays later, Swinton scored again, returning a blocked punt 4 yards to make it 21-0. And before the first half ended, the Vandals also gave up an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Indiana took a 21-0 lead after one quarter and made it 35-0 before Idaho recorded a first down.

Beaudry threw two touchdown passes to Hayden Hatten, one in each half. Hatten finished with 10 catches for 94 yards.

Charles Akanno notched three tackles for loss, including a sack, for the Vandals, who trailed 35-7 at the half.

The Hoosiers added a touchdown early in the third quarter after a big kickoff return to start the second half before the Vandals went 75 yards on 11 plays, capped by another Beaudry-to-Hatten score — this time, a 23-yard strike to the back of the end zone.

Penix Jr. threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score for Indiana (1-1), which lost 34-6 to Iowa last week.

"We were able to bounce back, address some things we needed to address and I think our guys responded in practice and the way we started," Indiana coach Tom Allen said. "I thought special teams was special tonight."

Idaho finished with 261 yards of offense, including 196 in the air. Indiana finished with 328 yards of offense.

The Vandals had only one penalty and didn't punt in their season opener but had eight penalties and punted seven times at Indiana. Beaudry was 23 of 36 with 196 yards and two TDs. Idaho rushed 22 times for 65 yards.

Punter Caleb Lightbourn had a second punt blocked in the fourth quarter, which also led to an Indiana TD.

Idaho linebacker Tre Walker finished with 16 tackles, 11 solo. Nate DeGraw (Post Falls High) had one of the Vandals’ two sacks — which came on successive plays.

Former Southern Cal running back Stephen Carr carried 22 times for 118 yards for Indiana.

Idaho dropped to 0-5 against FBS teams since returning to the FCS Big Sky Conference in 2018. The Vandals are 0-4 all-time against the Big Ten, losing the last two by a combined 135-21.