Box Score
Box score

INDIANAPOLIS- With game-time temps in the mid 90s, the UIndy football team (1-0) opened the 2011 season with a 41-0 rout of visiting Kentucky Wesleyan (0-1) Thursday night.  The all-around effort saw the Greyhounds out-gain the Panthers 398 yards to 186 in front of 4,155 fans at Key Stadium.

UIndy's offense used a balanced attack – 221 yards rushing, 177 passing – to run away with the victory.  Meanwhile, the UIndy defense notched its first shutout since downing Gannon 35-0 in September of 2007.  

The Hounds found the endzone on each of their first two drives, ending with a 27-yard receiving score from Ryan Forney and a four-yard rush from Klay Fiechter, respectively.

The team went on to score four more touchdowns, the longest of which coming on a 29-yard rush from junior Joumeel McLaurine in the second quarter.

UIndy built a 20-point cushion at the half, and after forcing another KWC three-and-out to start the third, the Hounds kept the pressure on with a 52-yard scoring drive.  The series contained four straight rushes from Fiechter and culminated in a 13-yard strike from QB Chris Mills to Forney.

The Panthers responded with two first downs on as many plays before their drive again stalled.  After the resulting punt and touchback, the Greyhounds answered with an 80-yard, eight-minute drive to all but clinch it.

Senior Joe Leach, who missed the final four games of 2010 due to injury, capped the drive with his first receiving touchdown of the season.

Now with less than a quarter to play, the Greyhounds' second string saw the majority of the playing time the rest of the way, putting up one final touchdown – a four-yard rush from redshirt-freshman Matt Ripp – and keeping KWC off the board to protect the shutout.

UIndy returns to its normal Saturday schedule next week with a Sep. 10 road game at Ashland.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern.


Notes:  The Greyhounds committed zero turnovers in the game…The last shutout pitched by UIndy came on 9/15/07 in a 35-0 win versus then-GLIAC-member Gannon…Fiechter set a career-best with 96 rushing yards, while McLaurine racked-up 86 yards on just 11 carries (7.8 per)…Thursday marked Ryan Forney's second career two-touchdown game (11/6/11 at Wayne State)…Jerrett Ban's first-quarter pick was his first as a collegian…Jovone Jordan and Ethan Wahl were each credited with one sack apiece.