Indiana is staring at a massive number on Saturday, but the expectation around Bloomington is pretty simple: the No. 5 team in the country should handle Howard with ease.
After rolling past North Texas last week, Indiana enters Week 2 looking for a second straight comfortable win, and the betting line says this one could get out of hand fast. The Hoosiers are favored by 56.5 points, which leaves little doubt about the likely winner and a lot more room to debate the margin. Howard comes in at 1-1 after beating Alabama A&M and losing to Richmond, but now the Bison have to walk into Bloomington for one of the weekend’s biggest mismatches.
For Indiana, the real question is less about survival and more about execution. The goal is to stay sharp on both sides of the ball, and a shutout would be the cleanest way to satisfy Curt Cignetti’s standard for perfection. The defense was solid in Week 1, though not flawless, while quarterback Josh Hoover was very good and will be looking to keep that momentum going.
Howard’s path is narrower. The Bison have nothing to lose, and the best they can hope for is to slow the game down, keep explosive plays in check and manufacture a few moments to build on. That’s easier said than done against an Indiana team that should have a clear edge in talent across the board.
Zack Besaw sees Indiana taking control immediately, using an aggressive passing game with Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh early before shifting toward the run and the depth chart later on. In his view, Howard’s defense will have a hard time matching Indiana’s size and speed.
His pick: Indiana 48, Howard 7.
Brandon Brown also expects the Hoosiers to dominate, though he isn’t convinced they’ll do enough to cover the huge spread. He expects Hoover to turn in another efficient performance, leaning on Charlie Becker, Nick Marsh and Tyler Morris with low incompletions and multiple touchdown passes.
His pick: Indiana 55, Howard 10.
If Indiana does what it’s supposed to do, Saturday could turn into another short night for the starters and a chance for younger players to get real game action while the key pieces stay fresh.
In Other News...
Indiana Still Faces An Eligibility Fight With Two Key Players
A court hearing that could affect several athletes, including two Indiana University football players, has been pushed back to Monday, leaving the Hoosiers in a familiar holding pattern as the season gets underway. For now, a temporary restraining order remains in place, giving those players an extra year of eligibility and clearing them to take the field this weekend while the legal fight plays out.
The case centers on a challenge to an NCAA eligibility rule tied to athletes in the high school class of 2022, and it has become one of those off-field issues programs would rather not have hanging over the roster. For Indiana, the immediate concern is simple enough: the players are available today, but their longer-term status is still tied to a hearing that has yet to happen. [Read more 🡒]
Indianas Dominant Rise Is Turning Into A Debate Fans Will Hate
Curt Cignetti arrived in Bloomington before the 2024 season and changed the conversation around Indiana football almost immediately. The Hoosiers went 11-2 in his first year, reached the College Football Playoff, then followed it with a perfect 16-0 run and a national championship, the kind of rise that can make a program feel brand new overnight. They opened this season ranked No. 6 and backed it up by handling North Texas 52-16, with Josh Hoover completing 13 of 16 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns.
Now the success that once felt impossible has created a different kind of pressure, because when a program climbs this fast, the debate stops being about whether it belongs and starts being about how long it can keep this up. Indiana fans have spent years waiting for a breakthrough, but the better the Hoosiers look, the more every new win seems to invite a tougher question about what comes next and whether the standard has already become too high to sustain. [Read more 🡒]
Former Hoosiers Are Suddenly Everywhere For NFL Week 1
Indiana footballs reach into the NFL got an early-season reminder in Week 1, when former Hoosiers showed up on active rosters across the league in a way the program has never quite seen before. Indiana already had plenty to celebrate after setting a school record with eight players taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, a group led by No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, but the next step has been even more striking: the pipeline didnt stop on draft weekend.
A total of 18 former Hoosiers made NFL 53-man rosters for Week 1, with five more landing on practice squads, giving Indiana an unusually visible footprint once the games started. The article goes on to track those ex-Hoosiers appearing in action around the league, a sign that the programs recent surge is translating beyond Bloomington and into the kind of pro-level presence that keeps a college fan base checking Sunday boxes with a little more interest than usual. [Read more 🡒]