Indiana’s 55-0 win over Howard gave the Hoosiers exactly what they needed in the standings and not quite as much as you’d want from a September tune-up.
That’s the tricky part of opening-week college football now. A clean win is still a clean win, and no one is pretending a loss would have been harmless.
But with the College Football Playoff setup the way it is, scheduling has turned into a balancing act, and Indiana’s path is built to reflect that reality. Ohio State’s loss to Texas has already complicated things for the Buckeyes, who now need either a win in Bloomington or a conference championship to feel safe about their Playoff chances.
Indiana, meanwhile, can look at its non-conference slate and see a route that could still survive even if it drops the home game against Ohio State.
That doesn’t mean the schedule is satisfying. It just means the incentives are warped.
The bigger complaint is less about the idea of an easier non-conference slate and more about the specific shape of Indiana’s first two games. North Texas and Howard sit on opposite ends of the competitiveness scale, and that contrast matters.
North Texas, after a hard-fought loss, turned around and handled UNLV, which makes the earlier win look better by the week. Howard never gave off that same kind of feel.
There’s also the question of what a game like this actually gives Indiana. Even as a warm-up, the Howard matchup felt thin.
The pass game barely had room to breathe, and Josh Hoover ended up with only 11 attempts because the run game took over so completely. That kind of workload doesn’t seem especially useful for Hoover or his receivers, even if the staff is chasing small details like timing.
Last year’s 73-0 win over Indiana State offered a better example of how this can look when the reps are spread around more effectively. Hoover threw a little over half as many passes as Fernando Mendoza did against the Sycamores, and Indiana still went three deep into its quarterback rotation in both games. The difference was that Mendoza still got enough work for the numbers to matter.
None of that means the staff is handling it wrong. Curt Cignetti and his coaches see these players every day, and they know better than anybody what needs attention.
They also have no reason to hand opponents more information than necessary. But from the outside, after eight quarters, it would be nice to learn a little more about this team than Howard allowed.
That’s the tension every program is trying to manage now: find a non-conference schedule that is challenging enough to be meaningful, but not so dangerous that it blows up the season. Indiana’s win over Howard did not solve that puzzle. If anything, it showed how hard it still is to get it right.
In Other News...
Indiana QB Is Suddenly At The Center Of A Big Ten Shakeup
The Big Ten quarterback pecking order got a jolt after Week 2, and Indiana has a new face sitting at the top of it. Josh Hoover moved into the No. 1 spot after a strong start, giving the Hoosiers a notable bit of national recognition in a conference where the quarterback conversation can change fast from one Saturday to the next.
Elsewhere in the league, the standings were just as volatile. Ohio States Julian Sayin slipped from No. 1 to No. 4 after the loss to Texas, while USCs Maiava, Penn States Becht and Michigans Underwood all shifted based on their latest outings. For Indiana, Hoovers rise is a reminder that in a league loaded with big names, a good couple of weeks can suddenly put a quarterback and his team right in the middle of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Just Got Bad News In A Key 2027 Recruiting Fight
Indianas push to reshape its frontcourt already had an important early piece in place with Felix Kiehlneker, the 7-foot-1 German center who committed to the Hoosiers as part of the 2027 class. That addition fit neatly with Darian DeVries plan to lean hard into size and interior talent after last seasons struggles, and it gave Indiana a foothold in a recruiting cycle where the paint is clearly a priority.
The next step has gotten more complicated with five-star target Darius Wabbington, one of the top names on Indianas board, moving up his official visit to Illinois. For a program trying to build momentum in the frontcourt, any shift like that matters, especially when a rival is pressing harder for the same elite big man. The Hoosiers still have time to make their case, but the race for Wabbington now looks a little tighter than it did before. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Backfield Suddenly Looks Like A Real Big Ten Strength
The backfield conversation around Indiana has changed quickly enough that its worth pausing on, because Turbo Richards arrival has brought a different kind of speed and a different kind of fit to Coach Millers offense. A former Boston College running back, Richard has talked about the adjustment to the Big Tens pace and physicality, and about how the system has challenged him to sharpen everything from practice habits to game execution. Hes also been part of a pairing with Lee Beebe Jr. that gives Indiana more than one way to attack defenses, which is exactly the sort of depth this league tends to reward.
Richards own profile helps explain why the Hoosiers think this can work. He brings top-end speed, but hes also comfortable in short-yardage situations, which makes him more than just a one-note big-play threat. The real question now is how far that combination can carry Indiana as the competition stiffens, because the early signs suggest the Hoosiers may have found a backfield that can handle different game scripts, even if the next step will be proving it when the stakes rise. [Read more 🡒]