Indiana didn’t waste much time making the correction it wanted.
After a flat Week 1 showing against North Texas, the Hoosiers came out and buried Howard 55-0, stacking up a 41-0 halftime lead and turning the second half into bench-player territory for Curt Cignetti. It was the kind of response Indiana needed, and it showed up in just about every phase.
The offense leaned hard on the ground game, and Howard had no answer for it. Lee Beebe Jr. and Turbo Richard both topped 100 rushing yards, with Beebe Jr. averaging 7.8 yards per carry on 16 touches and Richard going for 9.8 yards per carry with a touchdown.
The passing game didn’t have to carry the load, but Charlie Becker kept making the most of every chance he got. He caught three more passes, and all three went for touchdowns.
There was also a clear difference from last week on defense. Indiana’s front didn’t get its first sack immediately, largely because Ja’Shawn Scroggins kept trying to escape pressure and even threw a very bad interception while doing it, but the Hoosiers still finished with five sacks. Keishaun Calhoun led the way with two.
Cignetti had made it plain before kickoff that the North Texas game wasn’t good enough on either side of the ball, and this one looked much closer to the standard he wanted. It still wasn’t flawless, but the improvement was obvious.
One area that stood out was Josh Hoover’s day. He wasn’t as sharp as he was in Week 1, and the misses came early.
His first throw of the game was underthrown and could have gone for six to Tyler Morris, and he later underthrew Becker on Becker’s first touchdown. That one only added to Becker’s growing highlight reel as he continues to build a case to be WR1 in his NFL Draft Class.
The bigger issue for Hoover wasn’t just the missed throws. It was the decision-making.
He chased the big play a few times when safer throws were available, including open completions that would have moved the chains. Cignetti let him hear about it, too.
Becker’s breakout day showed Indiana has plenty of room for error at receiver, but it also made clear Cignetti would like Hoover to simplify things going forward.
With the game in hand early, Indiana also gave a better look at the depth chart through two weeks. Grant Wilson stayed in as QB2, and Tyler Cherry finally got on the field in his college debut after coming back from the season-ending injury he suffered last season. Cherry completed neither of his two passes, looking like a player who still needs more reps to settle in.
At running back, Sean Cuono didn’t appear until the starters were done, and then he split work with Jayreon Campbell. Campbell had the better day, averaging 7.2 yards per carry on five attempts, while Cuono finished at 2.7.
Indiana’s defense was again without Jamari Sharpe and A.J. Harris, but the line rotation kept working through a lot of bodies and produced better results than it did a week ago. That group looks deep, and Cignetti and Bryant Haines seem likely to keep leaning on that depth as long as they can.
In Other News...
Charlie Becker Has A Real Heisman Case Indiana Fans Should Notice
Charlie Becker has been one of the early surprises in Indianas season, piling up 145 receiving yards and five touchdowns through two games despite seeing limited playing time. For a Hoosiers offense still sorting itself out, that kind of production has been impossible to ignore, especially when it comes from a player who has made such a quick impact on the field and already climbed onto the Heisman conversation board.
Becker is sitting 45th on DraftKings Sportsbooks odds list at +16000, which is long-shot territory but still enough to get attention if the production keeps coming. The real test is still ahead, though, with Big Ten play set to bring a different level of physicality and scrutiny. If Becker keeps finding space and staying this efficient once conference defenses start keying on him, Indiana fans may have reason to keep one eye on the standings and another on a bigger national race. [Read more 🡒]
Indianas Rise Just Added Real Juice To The Big Ten Race
Indianas latest rout did more than pad the scoreboard, it nudged the Hoosiers another step up the national ladder and into a more prominent spot in the Big Ten conversation. After a 55-0 win over Howard, Indiana climbed one place in the US LBM Coaches Poll, a move that comes at a moment when the conference picture suddenly looks a lot different after Ohio States loss to Texas.
The ranking surge gives the Hoosiers a new kind of visibility, especially with the season still taking shape and the top 25 starting to settle around a fresh pecking order. The coaches poll panel continues to serve as one of the clearest weekly snapshots of how the sport views Indiana, and the next few polls will show whether this rise is just a strong early push or the start of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Freshmen Are Already Pushing For Bigger Hoosiers Roles
Indianas second win over Howard brought more than another check in the standings for the Hoosiers. It also offered a first look at several true freshmen on offense, with Jayreon Campbell, Parker Elmore, Lavar Keys and Kenton Mondeau all getting their first college game snaps as the staff kept widening the circle early in the season.
Campbell showed enough in his limited work to hint at a bigger role down the road, while Mondeau and Sam Simpson led first-year players in snaps as Indiana continued sorting out who can help fastest. On the other side of the ball, linebacker Jacob Savage keeps making a case of his own, following up his earlier showing with a disruptive day that included 1.5 tackles for loss and his first sack. [Read more 🡒]