Indiana’s trip to Rutgers brings a few familiar themes and a few fresh wrinkles, starting with the fact that the Hoosiers keep stacking wins. No. 6/5 IU got past Northwestern 29-23 in last Friday’s Big Ten opener, moved to 4-0, and stretched its home winning streak at Memorial Stadium to 19 straight, the longest in the country.
Now the setting changes. Indiana heads to Piscataway, New Jersey, for its first road game of the season and first of just four away dates in 2026.
Kickoff against the 1-3 Scarlet Knights is set for 8 p.m. Eastern on Big Ten Network.
There’s history here, and it’s tight. Indiana and Rutgers are dead even all-time at 5-5, though Rutgers has taken the last three meetings, including a 31-14 win at Memorial Stadium in 2023.
IU has not won in Piscataway since 2020. Saturday will also be the first time Curt Cignetti has coached against Rutgers as Indiana’s head coach, leaving Minnesota and USC as the only other Big Ten teams he has yet to face since arriving in Bloomington before the 2024 season.
The road stretch starts now, and it’s not a small one. Indiana has three away games in October alone, visiting Nebraska on Oct. 10 and Michigan on Oct. 24 before later going to Washington in late November. Under Cignetti, the Hoosiers are 8-1 in road games.
The Northwestern win came with a few notable milestones attached. It was Cignetti’s 150th career victory as a head coach across his four stops at IUP, Elon, James Madison and Indiana. It also included Indiana’s first defensive safety in four years, and the first defensive safety of the Cignetti era, to open the scoring.
The numbers around this team keep piling up. Indiana’s 20-game winning streak is the longest active run in the nation and the longest in the Big Ten since Ohio State won 23 in a row between 2013 and 2014.
The Hoosiers have also won 31 games across the past three seasons, the most in any three-year span in program history. Nico Radicic’s extra-point work has been just as steady, with 168 straight makes, the longest streak in program history and the second longest in Big Ten history behind Sean Nuernberger’s 216 for Ohio State from 2014 to 2018.
Lee Beebe’s 203 rushing yards against Northwestern gave Indiana its first 200-yard rusher under Cignetti and its first since Stevie Scott went for 204 against Virginia in 2018.
On the Rutgers side, head coach Greg Schiano picked up his 100th win in his second stint with the program when the Scarlet Knights beat Howard 58-7. Rutgers has also had a different kind of issue this season: turnovers.
After giving it away just 11 times all of last year, the Scarlet Knights have already coughed it up 10 times through four games. Quarterback Dylan Lonergan has thrown five interceptions in three games played, tied for the most in the country.
That sets up a few matchups that could shape the night. KJ Duff has been a problem for defenses all season, with 29 catches for 550 yards and seven touchdowns in four games. At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, he’ll test an Indiana secondary coming off a shaky outing against Northwestern, when it allowed 293 passing yards.
Indiana’s ground game will be another pressure point. The Hoosiers are averaging 233.5 rushing yards per game, but they are also dealing with a slew of injuries at running back. Rutgers, meanwhile, is giving up 166.8 rushing yards per game, so the line of scrimmage could decide whether Indiana controls the night.
Through the air, Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover has been clean so far, with no interceptions this season. But Rutgers’ defense has already forced six takeaways and will lean on its zone looks to make life difficult, especially on downfield shots to Charlie Becker.
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Becker comes in as Reids No. 8 overall prospect thanks to his size, speed and contested-catch ability, while Marsh lands at No. 26 for his physicality and route running. Smith checks in at No. 44 as a steady presence up front, a sign that Indianas unbeaten run is being built on more than one breakout star and that NFL evaluators are taking notice well before the 2026 season is over. [Read more 🡒]