Indiana’s trip back to Memorial Stadium should come with a lot less punishment from the sky.
After playing through a brutal opener against North Texas - a game where the TV broadcast said the field temperature reached 152 degrees and fans were already heading for the exits by halftime - the No. 5 Hoosiers are set for a far more manageable noon kickoff against Howard on Saturday in Bloomington. Early forecasts call for a high of 86 and a low of 67, with precipitation chances at 24% and no real wind concern expected to affect the game.
The matchup will air on the Big Ten Network, and BTN Tailgate will broadcast its on-campus pregame show from Bloomington.
Indiana is 1-0 after rolling past North Texas 52-16, and Saturday brings a first-ever meeting with Howard, a MEAC program. The Hoosiers have been automatic against FCS opponents for nearly two decades, going 16-0 since the loss to Southern Illinois in 2006.
Under Curt Cignetti, that record is 2-0, with Indiana outscoring those opponents 150-3. The scoring barrage has been a theme in Cignetti’s tenure as well: the Hoosiers have put up 40 or more points 16 times under him, and they’ve won all 16 of those games.
There is some injury concern hanging over the week, though. Indiana lost running back Khobie Martin and starting cornerbacks AJ Harris and Jamari Sharpe in the first quarter last week. Cignetti said in his weekly press conference that Harris and Sharpe are day-to-day, while Martin is expected to be out until mid-season.
Even with those setbacks, the Hoosiers are carrying plenty of momentum into Week 2. They’re riding a 17-game winning streak and have won their last 16 games at Memorial Stadium. Indiana is expecting another sold-out crowd on Saturday.
Howard comes in at 1-1, with a win over Alabama A&M and a 28-21 loss to Richmond last week. Quarterback Ja'Shawn Scroggins earned BOXTOROW HBCU National Player of the Week honors for his Week Zero performance against Alabama A&M, when he threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns and added 49 yards on the ground.
In Other News...
Indiana Defense Faces A Bigger Test After Hardys Message
Indianas defense has spent the week searching for a better standard after a recent film session left the unit with a blunt message about its underperformance. Rolijah Hardy was open about the need to tighten things up, but he also pointed to the competitive edge that has helped shape him, crediting the family background that taught him to keep pushing and the teammates around him who have tried to steady the group through the rough stretch.
Hardys own rise adds another layer to the conversation. He went from being an unranked high school player to a Big Ten preseason standout, a climb that speaks to how far he has come and why his voice carries weight in the locker room. The challenge now is whether Indiana can turn that mindset into cleaner play when the defense is tested again, because the next stretch will say plenty about how much progress that film session really sparked. [Read more 🡒]
IU Faces A Growing Campus Pressure Fans May Not Have Seen Coming
International student enrollment at Indiana University has now fallen for the third straight year, with 4,854 students across nine campuses after last fall's total of 5,776. The drop comes as the university adjusts to a new Indiana law that requires background checks for students from certain countries in scientific fields, along with federal visa restrictions that limit nonimmigrant student visas to four years.
The decline has touched one of IU's most visible academic pipelines, too, with the Wells Scholars Program briefly pausing international admissions for the 2026-27 cycle before resuming them. For a campus that has long leaned on its global reach, the trend raises fresh questions about how many international students IU can attract and retain as both state and federal rules tighten around them. [Read more 🡒]
Former Hoosier D'Angelo Ponds Is Closing In On His NFL Debut
D'Angelo Ponds is finally getting close to his first NFL action after a rough start to his pro career. The former Hoosier and second-round pick by the New York Jets missed most of training camp and the preseason after suffering a calf injury shortly after the 2026 NFL Draft, leaving him on the sideline while the rest of the roster settled in.
Ponds has now returned to practice ahead of Week 1, giving him a chance to be available for New York's season opener against the Titans. He is still projected as a backup cornerback on the Jets' depth chart, but even that role would mark an important first step after an offseason that kept him from building momentum the way rookie defenders usually try to do. [Read more 🡒]