INDIANAPOLIS—The No. 8-ranked UIndy football team endured its first loss of the season Saturday, falling 21-16 to visiting McKendree. The Greyhounds did not allow a single point in the second half and had the ball with 2:30 to go but could not find the end zone in the final minutes.

SENIOR DAY
UIndy honored 17 senior student-athletes prior to kickoff. Kednal Alexis, Josh Benton, Cade Campbell, Zachery Clark, Khoreice Crawford, Matt Der Torossian, Dylan Hillger, TyVel Jemison, Austin Keele, Luke Keller, Logan Koehne, Landry Mavungu, Kellen Porter, KJ Roudebush, Brett Russell, Nico Wegner and Keion Willis were all be recognized for their hard work and dedication to the program.
 
With redshirts and a COVID year affecting eligibility, the group features a mix of three-year students (Koehne), four- and five-year students (the majority) and even a handful six-year players (Clark, Crawford, Mavungu and Willis). The group has now combined to help the Hounds to 46 wins, three GLVC titles and three NCAA playoff appearances (to date) since the oldest of them stepped onto campus in 2018.

INS & OUTS
UIndy had a rocky opening half, watching the Bearcats take a 21-3 lead into the locker room. A pair of lengthy McKendree touchdown passes in second quarter—one for 51 yards and a another for 77—helped complicate matters for the home Hounds.
 
The UIndy defense stepped up in the second half, holding the Bearcats scoreless the rest of the way. McKendree mustered just 11 total yards after intermission, with the Hounds racking up 12 tackles for a loss and seven sacks on the afternoon.
 
The UIndy running game began to heat up down the stretch. Jon Lewis led the way, with 83 of his game-high 119 rushing yards coming in the third and fourth quarters.
 
The Greyhounds finally cut it to a one-score game with four minutes to go. Gavin Sukup's leaping TD rush made it 21-16, but the Hounds missed the two-point conversion.
 
The D forced another three-and-out, capped by five-yard sack by Aaron Barnett—his third of the afternoon.
 
UIndy got the ball back with 2:30 to play. They moved the ball near midfield, but a sack made it 4th & long before an interception ended the drive to ultimately seal it.
 
INSIDE THE BOX
- Barnett spearheaded a dominating pass rush for UIndy. He had three sacks in the game, following by two from Evan Lantz and one apiece from Dylan Shelton and Justin Thomas.
- McKendree finished with minus-16 rushing yards and 194 total yards—less that half of UIndy's total of 399.
- Nine different Greyhounds caught at least one pass.
 
MORE NOTES
Saturday result marked the first-ever win for McKendree in 12 all-time meetings with the Hounds … UIndy has already clinched a share of the 2023 GLVC title, with a win next week earning the crown outright.
 
UP NEXT
The Hounds wrap up the regular season next weekend with a trip to Bolivar, Mo., to face Southwest Baptist University. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.