Lee Beebe Jr. Runs Indiana Past Northwestern 29-23 to Keep Streak Alive
The short version
- No. 4 Indiana beat Northwestern 29-23 to improve to 4-0 and extend the nation's longest win streak.
- Lee Beebe Jr. rushed for over 200 yards — the first IU back to do so since Stevie Scott in 2008 — including 144 in the fourth quarter.
- Beebe took over after Turbo Richard left with a right ankle injury, leaving Indiana with one experienced scholarship running back.
- Key plays included a 39-yard run, a broken-play touchdown, and a career-long 70-yard carry.
- Beebe returned this season from a knee injury that sidelined him early in Indiana's perfect season last year.
With Turbo Richard injured, the backup running back racked up a career-high night and 144 fourth-quarter yards to preserve the fourth-ranked Hoosiers' unbeaten start.
Indiana stayed unbeaten and extended the nation's longest winning streak on Friday night, escaping Memorial Stadium in Bloomington with a 29-23 win over Northwestern. The fourth-ranked Hoosiers improved to 4-0, though the defending champions spent much of the second half in danger of an upset before backup running back Lee Beebe Jr. took over.
Beebe delivered a career-best performance, rushing for more than 200 yards in a single game — the first Indiana running back to do so since Stevie Scott in 2008. He accounted for 144 yards in the fourth quarter alone, and fans chanted his name as he left the field. Beebe called the moment surreal and said it was the first time he had heard the crowd chant for him.
He was pressed into a leading role because of injury. Fellow running back Turbo Richard left the game with a right ankle injury, leaving Beebe as the only healthy scholarship running back with experience on the roster. What had been a three-back rotation entering the season effectively disappeared, and Beebe responded with the heaviest workload of his career — he had never before topped 20 carries in a game, a mark reached by a Hoosiers running back only three times under coach Curt Cignetti.
Indiana led just 12-0 at halftime after leaving points on the field. The Hoosiers were stopped on downs at the 1-yard line on their opening possession, and quarterback Josh Hoover missed connections with Charlie Becker on two potential big plays. Beebe's 20-yard run in the third quarter set up a field goal, but the game turned in the final period after Northwestern pulled within a two-point conversion of tying it.
Beebe answered with a 39-yard burst up the middle — with Nick Marsh sealing the edge and Shazz Preston clearing the sideline — to get inside the Wildcats' 10-yard line. Two plays later he broke two tackles on what appeared to be a broken play, bouncing outside for a touchdown. After Northwestern scored again to make it 22-20, Beebe opened the next Indiana possession with a career-long 70-yard run, ending with a stiff-arm that put defensive back Robert Fitzgerald into the turf, to set up another touchdown. He credited the offensive line, the receivers' downfield blocking and Hoover for the night's success.
The performance capped a comeback from a devastating knee injury that sidelined Beebe at the start of Indiana's perfect season a year ago. He said that after the initial weeks of rest he went hard in the training room and weight room until he felt stronger than before, positioning himself to help replace a pair of 1,000-yard rushers.
Cignetti, who rarely singles out players for praise, made an exception. He said Beebe has as much heart as anyone in the program over the last three years and compared his heart to Kaelon Black's. Linebacker Isaiah Jones said Beebe's value is mostly what he brings off the field, calling him a leader and someone who brings energy every day with no drop-off.
Games to watch
