BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — — Indiana coach Curt Cignetti sent a message to his players this week.

He expected them to play their own brand of football — from start to finish. They delivered in record-breaking fashion.

Kurtis Rourke threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score — all in the first half Friday night — as the Indiana Hoosiers broke the school’s single-game scoring record with a 77-3 win over Western Illinois in a game that didn’t exactly go according to plan.

“I tried to get a lot of people into the game. We tried to run out there and I wanted to give the third quarterback a chance to throw it one time, so we did what we could to keep (the score) down,” Cignetti said. “But I didn’t want them to lower their game and I thought we responded (to the message) really well.”

How crooked was it?

The Hoosiers (2-0) broke the previous record of 76 points, set in a 1901 shutout of Franklin College, on the extra point after Charlie Becker’s 3-yard TD run with 9:10 to play. They also set a school record with 701 total yards, and the margin was the second-largest of all time, behind only that game against Franklin.

Cignetti also became the fourth Indiana coach since 1948 to win his first two games for the school.

Western Illinois (0-2) extended the longest losing streak in Division I football to 26 straight. The Leathernecks last won on Oct. 30, 2021.

This one was never close. Indiana scored TDs on each of its first six possessions, produced 415 yards on 38 plays in the first half and led 42-3 at halftime.

Rourke, the 2022 Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year, was sensational in his second game with Indiana, finishing 15 of 17 passes for 268 yards while rushing three times for 13 yards. Justice Ellison ran nine times for 117 yards and two TDs. Elijah Sarratt caught six passes for 137 yards. including a 71-yard touchdown.

“He was pretty sharp and the receivers made some good plays,” Cignetti said.

Andison Coby started the scoring with a 38-yard TD catch on the fifth play of the game. Ellison’s 2-yard TD run made it 14-0 before Sarratt’s long scoring play. And Ty Son Lawton’s 19-yard TD run gave Indiana a 28-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Western Illinois’ lone goal came on a 31-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half.

Ellison capped it off with a 47-yard touchdown run to open the scoring in the second half. Kicker Nicolas Radicic’s record-breaking 11th point of the game gave Indiana the score.

“I thought we played physically, with a nasty attitude and we were never satisfied,” said Cignetti.

THE PICKUP

Western Illinois: This season certainly hasn’t started well for the only active FBS or FCS team with back-to-back seasons without a win. Both of this season’s losses have come in blowouts, and the Leathernecks have lost eight of their last nine games by 39 or more points.

Indiana: The Hoosiers are off to a hot start, helped by a lackluster start to the season. Things get a lot tougher next week in their Big Ten opener at UCLA.

POWER FAILURE

It wasn’t just Western Illinois that lacked power Friday night. During halftime warmups, both of the stadium’s scoreboards went black. After a brief delay, the officials announced that they would be keeping the official time on the field. A few minutes later, the scoreboards came back on and showed that there were about 10 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter.

NEXT

Western Illinois: Visits former conference opponent Illinois State next Saturday.

Indiana: Makes its first appearance in the Rose Bowl since 1968 next Saturday against UCLA.

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