After falling to Hillsdale College in the season opener, the University of Indianapolis football team fell 38-16 to No. 1 ranked Marian University on Saturday, September 10. The Indianapolis rivals played in front of 10,963 fans in the “Monumental Matchup,” named after the downtown Soldiers’ and Sailor’s Monument.
“It’s frustrating right now, but I’m confident our guys will turn it around and making something out of this 0-2 start,” redshirt sophomore quarterback Jake Purichia said. “All we can do is control what we can control, and that’s winning the rest of our games and winning conference.”
The Hounds kept the Knights at bay for the first quarter and a half of Saturday’s game. UIndy defense forced an early Marian field goal which was followed by field goal from redshirt junior kicker Brad Schickel. Sophomore wide receiver Malik Higgins scored a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter after a 47-yard pass from Purichia. After missing the extra point, the Hounds were down 10-9 until the end of the second quarter. The Knights went on to score 28 points from that point to the end of the game, with no response from UIndy until the fourth. The Hounds also failed to recover two fumbles in the third quarter. Purichia threw 316 yards for the night.
Defensively, redshirt junior linebacker Aaron Bruning, redshirt senior linebacker Derrick Bryant and senior linebacker Rob Dury all ended the game with 10 or more tackles for the second straight week. Bryant had a career-high 19 stops and a sack. Redshirt junior defensive back Aeneas White had 12 tackles and Bruning added 10.
Head Football Coach Bob Bartolomeo said he hopes to win the fifth conference title in a row for UIndy this season, despite the slow start.
“We need to play better. We haven’t played very well the last two games,” Bartolomeo said. “We’ve got to go back and sort through the film and pick up the pieces and try to improve.”
The Hounds hit the road for the next three weeks and begin conference play, heading first to Bolivar, Mo. to face Southwest Baptist University on Saturday, September 17. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
