Another Indiana blowout: No. 2 Hoosiers hammer Maryland 55-10 after slow start

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Fernando Mendoza threw for a touchdown and ran for one, and No. 2 Indiana remained undefeated with a 55-10 rout of Maryland on Saturday.

Mendoza recovered from an early interception, and he also had to play most of the game without his top target. Star receiver Elijah Sarratt left in the first quarter with hamstring tightness, ending his nation-leading streak of 46 consecutive games with a catch.

Still, this was another one-sided game for the Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten), who since winning at Oregon have added victories over Michigan State, UCLA and Maryland by a combined 120 points.

Indiana outrushed Maryland 367-37.

“It seemed like they wanted to take away our pass game, take away our RPO game,” Mendoza said. “They gave a lot of depth on all the pass concepts we threw at them, and that opened up the run game.”

The Terrapins (4-4, 1-4) lost their fourth straight. They had a chance to make it interesting early, intercepting Mendoza on the first drive and taking over at the Indiana 12-yard line. Maryland managed only a field goal out of that, and after forcing a three-and-out and again getting the ball in Hoosiers territory, the Terps failed to score at all.

“The defense has all year long risen to the occasion when their backs are against the wall,” Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti said. “It wasn't perfect tonight defensively, trust me. Open-field tackling wasn't very good, they had some explosive plays. But there's a lot of good things that are on tape.”

Mendoza scored on a 7-yard run before the first quarter was over, and his 22-yard scoring pass to Omar Cooper Jr. made it 17-3.

It was 20-3 at halftime.

“Some of these young guys played like young guys against a really good team,” Maryland coach Michael Locksley said. “When we had opportunities early in the game, we did not take advantage of them. Our defense continues to get off to a fast start and somehow, some way we have to get the offense going. To me, the inefficiency on offense is just the inability to have balance.”

Maryland scored its lone touchdown on a 55-yard catch-and-run by DeJuan Williams, but Indiana answered with Kaelon Black's 31-yard scoring run.

Before the third quarter was half over, the Terps fumbled on consecutive offensive plays. One was returned 32 yards for a touchdown by Devan Boykin, and the other set up a 16-yard touchdown run by Roman Hemby that made it 41-10.

Mendoza's brother Alberto came on and threw a 6-yard TD pass to Jonathan Brady in the fourth, and Khobie Martin added a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:08 to play.

Indiana: Sarratt's health is the biggest concern to come out of this game, but when Maryland didn't take advantage of its early opportunities, the Hoosiers made the Terps pay with impressive efficiency.

Maryland: This was a step back for promising freshman quarterback Malik Washington, who threw two interceptions and lost the fumble that was run back for a TD.

Hemby, who transferred from Maryland to Indiana, ran for 88 yards on 18 carries against his old team. Black rushed for 110 yards and Martin added 80.

Both teams are on the road next Saturday, with Indiana at Penn State and Maryland at Rutgers.

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