Curt Cignetti didn’t need long on his radio show Thursday night to land the point. While Rutgers was already wobbling against UMass, he cut right to the heart of it: "I hope our guys are watching this game," Cignetti said during his radio show on Thursday evening.
By then, Rutgers was down 17 at halftime. By the end, the Scarlet Knights had been stunned 37-21 by a UMass team that had entered 2026 averaging just one win per season since 2019 and was coming off an 0-12 year. Rutgers, a 29.5-point favorite, not only lost outright, but did so after reportedly paying UMass $1.55 million to play the game.
It was a brutal night for Greg Schiano and company, and the result has already sparked real questions about whether Schiano could be fired before Week 2. Rutgers was out-rushed 200-30, committed four turnovers, and didn’t force any of its own. For UMass, the win in Piscataway was a jolt of history: its first against a current power conference opponent since November 1978.
For Indiana, the lesson is plain. Cignetti’s warning feels even louder now because the Hoosiers cannot afford to treat any game like a formality, even if the matchup looks lopsided on paper. Indiana is favored by 40 points in its Week 1 meeting with North Texas, but that number means nothing once the ball is kicked off.
That’s the bigger message behind Rutgers-UMass. The Hoosiers have a manageable schedule and enough talent and experience to be favored in more than 10 regular-season games.
Still, every one of those games has to be played, and won, the hard way. If Indiana relaxes against an opponent it expects to handle, the upset potential is always there.
And that’s especially true now that the Hoosiers are the team everyone is circling. As the defending National Champions, they’ll get every opponent’s best shot across all 12 regular-season games. Indiana also enters 2026 among the preseason favorites to win it all again, backed by returning production, portal additions, an experienced roster, and a fully retained coaching staff.
The pieces are there for another CFP run. But if Rutgers-UMass proved anything, it’s that confidence can’t drift into complacency. Indiana still has to line up and play.
In Other News...
Indiana Is Betting Big On Josh Hoover For One Critical Reason
Indianas quarterback plan took an important turn in early January when Josh Hoover arrived from TCU, giving Curt Cignetti another experienced option to shape the offense around. Hoover comes with real college seasoning after three seasons in Fort Worth, including multiple starts and enough game action to prove he is far beyond the usual transfer-project label.
Cignetti has made it clear he wants a quarterback who can step in and lead, which is why Hoovers track record matters so much to the Hoosiers. Indiana is looking for a steady hand under center, and the appeal here is obvious: a passer with production, experience and a profile that invites the same kind of optimism the program attached to Fernando Mendoza. [Read more 🡒]
Nico Radicic Is Already Crucial For Indiana And Still Has More To Prove
Since Curt Cignetti arrived in 2024, Nico Radicic has quietly become one of Indiana footballs most dependable weapons, the kind of specialist whose value shows up in tight games and then fades back into the background. He has been highly accurate on extra points and has converted most of his field goals, giving the Hoosiers a level of stability at kicker that is easy to overlook until the pressure rises.
That reliability mattered most in the 2026 National Championship game, when Radicic drilled a 35-yard field goal late to help extend Indianas lead. Even with that kind of moment on his resume, there is still a layer of unfinished business for him, especially as he works to improve from longer range while carrying Lou Groza Award watch-list expectations into the next stretch of his career. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti Uses These Indiana Games For Something Bigger Than Wins
Indianas early non-conference games have not always looked like the kind that turn heads on a national stage, but for Curt Cignetti and his staff, they serve a larger purpose. Against Florida International and Old Dominion, Indiana has treated those matchups as a laboratory of sorts, using them to test ideas, sort out player roles and see what actually translates once Big Ten play begins.
One of the clearest examples has been the way the Hoosiers have worked to tap into Fernando Mendozas mobility while also keeping trusted targets like Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. involved in the ways that have already proven useful. The point is not to pile up blowouts or chase style points in September. It is to leave those first few games with answers, even if the scoreboard looks more ordinary than the programs bigger ambitions. [Read more 🡒]