Sudfeld, Howard lead undefeated Indiana past Wake Forest

Indiana Football goes 4-0 for the first time since 1990 with an important 31-24 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem, NC.

ABOUT INDIANA (3-0): Defensive coordinator Brian Knorr served on the coaching staff at Wake Forest from 2008-2013 and faces his former team for the first time, but he isn’t treating Saturday’s game differently than he would any other. League play is still around the corner, but we’ve seen enough now to say this with confidence: Indiana’s rushing attack is for real.

Indiana held off a late charge by Wake Forest to hang on for a 31-24 win, a win that while again wasn’t the prettiest sight kept the Hoosiers unbeaten.

The Hoosiers (3-0) visit the Demon Deacons (2-1) on Saturday in a matchup of teams trying to prove their winning records aren’t mirages.

Per usual for IU the game came down to the final couple of minutes after the Demon Deacons rallied from a 31-10 deficit to within a touchdown with 2:33 to play. Hinton pushed the ball into IU territory to keep the drive alive, but consistent pressure from Zack Shaw and Darius Latham forced Wake to attempt a 4th and 20 from the Indiana 42, which they failed to convert. The offense of the Hoosiers is terrific and is led by quarterback Nate Sudfeld, who is averaging over 300 passing yards a game, and running back Jordan Howard who has 507 rushing yards on 78 carries and three touchdowns.

Kendall Hinton, making his first start at quarterback, ran for two touchdowns and threw for a third for the Deacons. Hinton scored on a 15-yard run to get Wake Forest on the board 26 seconds into the second quarter before the Hoosiers went ahead to stay on Sudfield’s 28-yard scoring toss to junior wideout Ricky Jones to cap a 10-play, 92-yard drive with 11:05 left in the half. In the third and fourth quarters, he was 3-of-5 for 17 yards.

Wake Forest’s Julian Jackson then came up with an onside kick to give the Deacons one last shot.

Hinton completed 19 of 46 passes for 245 yards and added 57 yards rushing for Wake Forest. The Deacons are coming off a close win at Army which they won via a Mike Weaver last-second field goal. “The bottom line is on offense, we missed some opportunities in the passing game”. The offensive line will need to open up some holes for the young backs. “We’re making progress, but this is one that we really wanted to get and thought we could get, so we’re disappointed”.