INDIANAPOLIS — The first half left lots to be desired, but the Indianapolis Colts used a dominating third quarter to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-3 on Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium.

Trent Richardson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 8:31 remaining in the third quarter, and Andrew Luck’s 73-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver T.Y. Hilton at the 6:08 mark extended a 6-3 halftime lead to 20-3 against the offensively challenged Jaguars (1-10), who lost their fourth in a row.

Indianapolis (7-4) began another third-quarter drive that culminated with Adam Vinatieri’s 32-yard field goal on the fourth quarter’s first play for a 23-3 advantage.

Luck finished 21 of 32 for 253 yards and the third-quarter TD to Hilton.

With the victory, the Colts have won 11 consecutive AFC South games and continue to lead second-place Houston in the division.

While Indianapolis’ offense needed two quarters to find any kind of rhythm, the Colts’ defense limited Jacksonville to 92 yards of total offense through three quarters.

It was an important victory for an Indianapolis team that was soundly beaten 42-20 on Nov. 16 by the red-hot New England Patriots in Lucas Oil Stadium. For the first two quarters Sunday, the Colts appeared to battling the remnants of that defeat, even drawing several rounds of boos from their crowd.

Despite the fact Luck lost two fumbles and was sacked five times during the first two quarters, Indianapolis managed to seize a 6-3 halftime lead on Vinatieri’s 20-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining before intermission.

Luck’s 26-yard completion to Hilton moved the ball to the Jacksonville 18-yard line, setting up Vinateri’s second field goal of the half.

Vinatieri’s 46-harder with 10:32 left in the first quarter gave Indianapolis an early 3-0 lead after cornerback Vontae Davis intercepted a Blake Bortles pass and returned it 42 yards to the Jaguars 23.

Jacksonville pulled into a 3-3 tie with 4:17 to go in the opening quarter on Josh Scobee’s 28-yard field goal, which was set up when defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks recovered a Luck fumble at Indianapolis 13-yard line.

NOTES: K Adam Vinatieri now is 25 of 25 this season in field-goal accuracy. … TE Dwayne Allen, CB Greg Taylor, G Lance Louis, C/G Khaled Holmes, DT Kelcy Quarles, T Gosder Cherlius and NT Zach Kerr were inactive for the Colts. … WR Mike Brown, CB Teddy Williams, RB Storm Johnson, LB Jeremiah George, G Tyler Shatley, T Sam Young and DE Andre Branch were inactive for the Jaguars … Jacksonville DE Chris Clemons sacked QB Andrew Luck three times for losses totaling 15 yards during first-half play. … Indianapolis completed a two-game season series sweep of the Jaguars, also winning 44-17 on Sept. 21 in Jacksonville. … The Colts have beaten the Jaguars five consecutive times. … Colts starting RG Hugh Thornton suffered a knee injury during the third quarter and did not return. … Indianapolis improved to 4-2 in Lucas Oil Stadium with home games against Washington and Houston remaining. … Jacksonville fell to 0-6 on the road with trips to Baltimore and Houston remaining.