Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti’s time on the “Inside IU Football” radio show was coming to an end Thursday night inside Hoosier Hank’s in Bloomington. Play-by-play announcer Don Fischer said he thought there’s no doubt Indiana will win Saturday against No. 9 Illinois.
Sure, the Hoosiers are 3-0 this season. But this is the conference opener against a highly ranked squad. It’s the first real test of the season.
Cignetti offered no verbal response to Fischer. However, he winked. The crowd delivered an applause for their second-year head coach, who will lead his No. 19 Hoosiers into a showdown with the No. 9 Fighting Illini at 7:30 p.m. Saturday inside Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
Here are notes and quotes from Cignetti and special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Grant Cain, who appeared on the show after the head coach:
RB Lee Beebe Jr.’s season-ending injury
Cignetti announced Monday that redshirt junior running back Lee Beebe Jr. suffered a season-ending right knee injury. Beebe will get surgery in the next couple weeks, Cignetti said Thursday.
Since the injury occurred before Beebe played in four games this season, he’ll be granted a medical redshirt and will still have two seasons of eligibility when he returns in 2026. Injuries are part of the game, Cignetti said, but they can take a toll on players in different ways.
“So, he's got a lot of support, whether it be mental, medical, emotional support, academic support,” he said. “He's a great kid. Terrific kid. He’s got great work ethic. He has a great attitude about it, and I'm sure he'll come back strong.”
In Beebe’s absence, redshirt freshman Khobie Martin will slot into the third back role. Martin led the Hoosiers in rushing against Indiana State University, racking up 109 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
When a player practices with the third and fourth teams, they surely sometimes wonder when they will get a shot to prove their capabilities, Cignetti said.
Martin’s opportunity came against the Sycamores, and Cignetti said he “ran well, I mean we all saw that.”
“He's got a good center of gravity when he runs, and he's going to play a more prominent role now in the offense,” Cignetti said. “Going to be called to. I think he got off to a good start.”
On QB Fernando Mendoza
Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza played just the first half against Indiana State. Still, he threw for 270 yards and five touchdowns with just one incompletion.
He didn’t play to his standard in the season opener Aug. 30 but displayed improvement in Week 2. Nonetheless, he thought he left touchdown opportunities on the field with a pair of missed throws.
Despite his prolific performance in Week 3, he explained postgame there are still aspects of his play he wants to improve upon ahead of Indiana’s showdown with Illinois. He said he needed to take “another big step.”
“I think he's really made nice progress since the season started and really like he is at heading into this next game,” Cignetti said. “...He's improved in the areas that we thought were important for him to make progress in, and he's had a good week of practice heading into this game.”
Mendoza will be tested, though, in his first conference game as a Hoosier. The Fighting Illini’s defense is 29th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total defense and fifth in scoring defense (7.3 points per game).
Cignetti said Monday he has “total confidence he’ll (Mendoza) step up and respond.”
Indiana’s defense
Although Indiana allowed Old Dominion University redshirt sophomore quarterback Colton Joseph to score 75 and 78-yard rushing touchdowns in the season opener, the Hoosiers largely contained the Monarchs’ offense.
Despite starting its season 0-1, Old Dominion has won back-to-back games and now sits at 2-1.
“I mean as it turns out, ODU turned out to be pretty decent team,” Cignetti said. “I mean they spanked Virginia Tech really bad. Bad enough that they fired their coach.”
Then, in Week 2, the Hoosiers defense held Kennesaw State University to zero first downs on its first four drives and just one on its final four. But the possessions in between were cause for concern.
Using tempo, the Owls’ offense moved the ball against the Hoosiers’ defense, which had missed assignments and poor alignments. Cignetti even singled out the safeties as a group that needed to improve.
Defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ unit did so in Week 3, but Illinois poses a new challenge.
“Their quarterback (redshirt senior Luke Altmyer) is a veteran, as well, and he's got good arm talent,” Cignetti said. “The offensive line is big and a lot of starts under their belt. Some of their receivers are new; they lost their top two receivers and as well as the running back. They're scoring a lot of points.”
Indiana TE’s resemblance to former Indiana TE Zach Horton
When Fernando Mendoza took his offensive line to dinner at St. Elmo Steak House in Indianapolis over the summer, he brought sixth-year senior tight end Riley Nowakowski with him.
Nowakowski, who transferred from Wisconsin in the offseason, has made his mark as a dominant blocker through three games. He also scored a touchdown in Week 2.
In total, the Hoosiers’ tight ends —Nowakowski, senior Holden Staes and redshirt junior James Bomba — have combined for seven receptions and 71 yards with a touchdown. All three have played significant roles as blocking tight ends — almost an extension of the offensive line.
“There's a relentlessness to them,” Indiana special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Grant Cain said Thursday. “They're intense. They love physical contact. They take pride in their blocking and playing with good pad level and they're versatile.”
Cain said the Hoosiers’ tight ends can do it all: rush, catch and block.
“It's not going to matter,” he said. “They're up for the challenge and they have the ability to do it.”
The challenges a ranked matchup presents
Illinois tied its program record for the most wins in a season, notching 10 in 2023. The Fighting Illini returned 16 starters from the squad.
“Some new defensive linemen on the inside and everybody else is pretty much back for the most part from last year and they do a nice job on defense,” Cignetti said. “They don't give up many points, and their special teams are very good.”
During his press conference Monday, Illinois head coach Bret Bielema said a team with a good special teams unit alongside its offense and defense is the indicator of a well-coached team. He said the Hoosiers are “as well-coached as anybody we’ll see.”
The game was announced as a sellout July 31. It’ll be on national television with NBC carrying the contest. It’s a “Red Out” inside Memorial Stadium.
“Well, we ought to have a lot of games on NBC TV if we're doing what we're supposed to be doing — me, the staff, the players, the administration and the alumni,” Cignetti said. “We should have a lot of games on national TV.”
The contest is the first top 20 matchup in Bloomington since October 1987. The game has College Football Playoff implications, as both teams are aiming to secure a berth come December.
“They're ranked extremely high in the country, and I know they've had their eyes on us for a while, and we've had our eyes on them for a while too in the offseason,” Cignetti said. “So, it's two good teams matching up early in the year, and I'm glad it's at home.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
