Indiana Hoosiers

Indiana Wins First of Series with Kentucky in a Thriller in Lexington

September 9, 2023

Season Report Posted: December 11, 2018 07:59  

Coming off an 0-12 season, not many expected the Hoosiers to walk into Lexington and come out with a win, especially with Kentucky coming off a 9 win season and the assumption that the Hoosiers would still be working out the kinks of installing Coach Bruin's system. To be sure, there were some kinks to be worked out - the Hoosiers trailed 21-3 after the first quarter and 34-17 late in the third - but the offense looked like another one of Bruin's explosive attacks, racking up 604 yards and 58 points in a thrilling, last second win over the Wildcats in Lexington. The game was the first of a new scheduled series between IU and Kentucky, who had played a tightly contested 36 games before this year's contest, with the Hoosiers holding a slim 18-17-1 lead. The two programs will play two years out of every four - giving each class a chance to play a game at each school - and if this game was any indication, it'll be an absolutely enthralling series for years to come. Quarterback Brandon Morris was the star of the game, overcoming two first half interceptions to throw 363 yards and four touchdowns and adding three more, including the game winner with two seconds left, on the ground. The running game of the Hoosiers was no slouch either, with Chad Henry piling up 175 on only 23 carries and freshman phenom Cecil Smith rushing for 55 yards and a touchdown. Smith's touchdown put the Hoosiers ahead for the first time in the game with 46 seconds left, a lead that quickly vanished with a 64 yard touchdown pass from Jared Goddard, who threw for over 500 yards, to Rob Adams with 30 seconds to play. However, Morris took the Hoosiers right down the field, hitting Aaron Houston on a corner route to get the ball at the one yard line before running it in on an option play. Coach Bruin is only two games into his tenure, but one has to think this is exactly what fans were dreaming of when IU landed him from Eastern Michigan, where he won 51 games and two MAC titles in five years. Now it seems like that kind of success is more likely to occur in Bloomington.