BOLIVAR, Mo. – The No. 16 UIndy football team (7-1, 6-0 GLVC) used an impressive team effort to script a 48-14 win at Southwest Baptist (0-8, 0-6) Saturday afternoon in Bolivar, Mo. The Greyhounds held their seventh straight opponent to less than 20 points while racking up their highest total offensive output in 15 years.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
UIndy dominated the Bearcats, amassing 657 yards of total offense to more than double that of its host. The sum, which included a balanced total of 359 rushing yards and 298 passing, was the team's highest offensive yield since it put up 704 total yards in an overtime win versus Michigan Tech on Sept. 20, 2003.
 
A week after racking up five rushing TDs, the Greyhounds produced two early scores through the air to take control. Jake Purichia found Ryan Topper (38 yards) and Daveon Bell (66) for lengthy first-quarter touchdowns, with Bell's good for the longest TD reception by a Greyhound this season.
 
The Hounds continued to generate offense in chucks, finishing the first half with 392 total yards. Toriano Clinton added a pair of second-quarter rushing TDs while Al McKeller tacked on another to give the Greyhounds a commanding 34-0 advantage at the half.
 
After going 34 minutes of game time without a score, the Bearcats finally broke through with a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter. But later, the Hounds scored on a pair of breakaway rushes to all but ice it; Clinton busted out with a 68-yard scoring rush in the third quarter, while redshirt-freshman running back Gavin Bane capped the day's scoring with a 60-yard gallop in the fourth – his first collegiate touchdown.
 
Meanwhile, the Greyhound defense allowed just two scoring drives all day. Junior linebacker Joe Lambright led all players with 13 tackles, while safeties Blake Luker and Connor Steeb each added seven. Erik Hart and Alec Patch were each credited with a sack, and senior cornerback Robert Williams had four tackles and two pass break-ups.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- UIndy's four running backs that made the trip (Clinton, McKeller, Bane and Daniel Wright) combined for 355 yards on 35 carries, good for an average of 10.1 yards per attempt.
- Clinton, the reigning GLVC Offensive and Special Teams Player of the Week, notched his second straight 100-yard-rushing game, while Bane came one yard shy of recording his first such performance.
- Clinton became the first Greyhound to score three rushing touchdowns in consecutive games since Andrew Walker in October of 2015.
- Bell finished with five catches for 182 yards for first career 100-yard-receiving game. In addition to his aforementioned 66-yard TD catch, he managed a 75-yard reception in the second quarter that was stopped just short of the goal line.
- Purichia's third quarter interception broke a string of 124 passes without a pick. He still finished an efficient 13 for 19 passing for a season-high 291 yards and two scores.
- SBU was forced to punt seven times on the day, UIndy only once. The latter was a 51 yarder by redshirt-freshman Paul Buisman. He is averaging 41.5 yards per punt since taking over kicking duties in week five.
 
MORE NOTES
The Hounds move to 4-1 all-time versus Southwest Baptist … UIndy has yet to allow more than 17 points in GLVC play. Consequently, conference foes are averaging just 13.1 points per game versus the Hounds.
 
UP NEXT
With a perfect 6-0 mark in conference play, UIndy will vie for the 2018 Great Lakes Valley Conference championship next week at Truman State University. The contest will break a first-place tie in the GLVC standings, as the Bulldogs are also unbeaten in league play after their 41-7 win against Quincy today.