Great Scott leads Indiana past Northwestern for fourth consecutive victory

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Stevie Scott III was a smash hit in Indiana’s premiere on Saturday night.

He ran around defenders. He overpowered defenders. He even fooled defenders.

In the first November night game played in Bloomington, Scott stole the show with two touchdown runs and a 20-yard touchdown reception, leading the Hoosiers to a 34-3 rout of Northwestern and locking up their first seven-victory season since 2007.

‘‘I do feel like there was a concerted effort by the teams we were playing to load the box, and he was getting impatient and trying to bounce those runs,’’ Indiana coach Tom Allen said. ‘‘But I think [running backs] coach [Mike] Hart did a good job of teaching him how to stay with it. Then he started running hard, with more confidence, and our offensive line keeps getting better and better. And in the passing game, [Scott] has really worked on that.’’

It certainly showed against the Wildcats.

Scott set the tone early by driving NU’s defenders backward on a seven-yard run on the fifth play of the game. He followed that by sprinting around the left side and down the field for 27 yards on the next play to set up a field goal. He wound up carrying 26 times for 116 yards and scoring on his only catch of the night.

The Hoosiers (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten) have won four consecutive games in conference play, their longest such streak since winning four in a row in 1993. And the Hoosiers are one victory away from their first eight-win season in 26 years despite losing starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to yet another undisclosed injury in the first half.

But against the Wildcats’ flailing offense, it didn’t matter. NU (1-7, 0-6) lost its sixth consecutive game, hasn’t scored a touchdown since Oct. 5 and failed to top 10 points for the fourth game in a row.

And it was downright ugly. Quarterback Aidan Smith lost a fumble on the Wildcats’ first offensive play, and Indiana converted it into a two-yard touchdown run by Scott to make it 10-0.

After Charlie Kuhbander got NU on the board with a 25-yard field goal, the Wildcats came up with a defensive stop, only to give the ball away with another fumble that led Smith to be benched in favor of Hunter Johnson. Penix capped the Hoosiers’ four-play, 18-yard drive with a one-yard plunge for a 17-3 lead.

‘‘Can’t lose the turnover ratio,’’ NU coach Pat Fitzgerald said. ‘‘I thought we had a pretty good offensive game plan that we failed to execute. It starts and ends with me, and I have to take responsibility for that.’’

The Wildcats’ defense wasn’t much better. Two pass-interference penalties in the end zone set up Scott’s second two-yard touchdown run before the first half ended, and Indiana made it 34-3 on Scott’s touchdown reception from Peyton Ramsey in the third quarter and a short field goal in the fourth.

‘‘Seven wins to secure a winning season for the first time in 12 years is a very big deal,’’ Allen said. ‘‘I don’t think they’re shocked by what they’re doing; I think they expected it.’’

The loss sealed NU’s postseason fate. The Wildcats won’t be bowl-eligible for the first time since 2014, a jarring reality for a team that won the Big Ten West and played for the conference championship last season against Ohio State.