Kennesaw State offense struggles in 56-9 loss to Indiana

For the second straight week, Kennesaw State saw itself in another battle into the second half with a Power 4 opponent. But unlike the season opener, in which the Owls stayed close to Wake Forest all the way to the end, Saturday’s matchup with Indiana in Bloomington turned into a rout.

Fernando Mendoza threw for four touchdowns to lead the No. 23 Hoosiers to a 56-9 rout of the Owls.

Down 21-6 at the half, the Owls’ Daniel Kinney kicked a 50-yard field goal on the first drive of the second half, his third of the game, to pull the visitors within 12 points, 21-9. But Indiana scored touchdowns on each of its first five possessions of the second half to break the game open.

Mendoza, a transfer from University of California, completed 18 of 25 passes for 245 yards. He threw scoring passes of 3, 9 and 20 yards to Elijah Sarratt and an 8-yard strike to E.J. Williams early in the fourth quarter.

Indiana scored on a 1-yard run by Riley Nowakowski and an 11-yard run by Lee Beebe Jr. in the first half to go with the first of Sarratt’s TD catches. Beebe finished with a team-best 90 rushing yards on 11 carries.

The takeaway

Kennesaw State: The Owls lost to their second consecutive Power 4 opponent after falling 10-9 at Wake Forest in the opener. This loss was more lopsided as the Owls managed just three field goals. Amari Odom completed 10 of 16 passes for 176 yards.

Indiana: The Hoosiers, who saw their ranking drop three spots to No. 23 following a closer-than-expected 27-14 victory over Old Dominion, should maintain their ranking with a convincing victory. Indiana didn’t commit a turnover and was penalized just three times. Indiana held a 593-271 edge in total yards.