Indiana will be without a few familiar names when it opens Big Ten play against Northwestern on Friday night, and the list touches both sides of the ball.
Running back Khobie Martin is out after breaking his forearm early in Week 1 against North Texas. Martin was coming off a strong redshirt freshman season in 2025 and entered this year with breakout buzz, but that has been put on hold for now.
Curt Cignetti has said he hopes Martin can return in the middle of the season, though no official timetable has been announced. With Martin sidelined, Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr. have handled the backfield work and should keep carrying the load.
Indiana will also be without wide receiver Lebron Bond, who has already missed the Howard and Western Kentucky games. The specific injury has not been disclosed, and Friday’s matchup will mark his fourth straight absence. The Hoosiers are now looking ahead to Week 5 against Rutgers as a possible return point.
In the secondary, cornerback Carson Williams has been ruled out as well. Williams has seen limited action this season and has logged 2.0 tackles. He arrived at Indiana after earning Freshman all-American honors and winning an FCS National Championship at Montana State last season.
Cornerback A.J. Harris is listed as doubtful.
The Penn State transfer came in with plenty of attention after earning Honorable Mention All-Big Ten honors last season, but an undisclosed injury suffered in Week 1 against North Texas has kept him off the field since then. If he can’t go, Ryland Gandy and Jaylen Bell should continue to see expanded roles.
Indiana’s kicking situation is still unsettled, too. Placekicker Nico Radicic was ruled out against Howard shortly before kickoff in Week 2, and Cignetti said he is dealing with a back issue.
He remains questionable for Northwestern. In his place, Paddy McAteer has handled the job, going 12-for-13 on extra points and 1-for-2 on field goal attempts over the past two games.
The final official availability report will come two hours before kickoff Friday night.
In Other News...
Steve Alford's Announcement Brings Back An Old IU What-If
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For Indiana fans, though, the announcement also stirs up an old what-if that never really goes away. Alfords career has long been tied to the Hoosiers orbit, and any time his path comes back into focus, it tends to prompt the same reflection about how differently things might have looked in Bloomington. His retirement is still a couple of seasons away, but the news already has a way of reviving a familiar debate around a program that remembers him well. [Read more 🡒]
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Alford has been at Nevada since 2019, guiding the Wolf Pack to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances while building on a career that has reached 724 wins. The university and Alford both issued statements reflecting on his impact and the respect he has earned, setting up a final stretch that will be followed closely by fans who have tracked his journey from Bloomington to the sideline. [Read more 🡒]
Curt Cignetti Just Escalated A Playoff Controversy Fans Wanted Explained
Indianas playoff run left plenty for fans to argue about already, and now Curt Cignetti has added a fresh layer to the conversation about what happened late in the College Football Playoff final. The Hoosiers coach said communication on defense was lost in the fourth quarter when President Donald Trump left the stadium, a sequence that lined up with Malachi Toneys touchdown and quickly turned into one of the more debated details from the game.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian had also addressed the communication issue from that night, but he described the timing differently. Cignetti pushed back on that version, saying the outage happened earlier and that communication was restored after the touchdown, leaving the matchup with one more unresolved point that fans around Indiana are likely to keep picking apart. [Read more 🡒]