No. 22 Indiana football will again be without freshman safety Byron Baldwin Jr. and senior punter Mitch McCarthy, according to the Big Ten availability report, in its matchup with Indiana State University at 6:30 p.m. Friday inside Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
Baldwin missed the Hoosiers’ first two contests against Old Dominion University on Aug. 30 and Kennesaw State University on Sept. 6. Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti hasn’t disclosed Baldwin’s injury, last saying Sept. 1 that the freshman was “day-to-day.”
Missing Friday’s game leaves Baldwin without an opportunity to make his collegiate debut ahead of Big Ten play, which begins Sept. 20 against No. 9 Illinois.
McCarthy limped off the field Aug. 30 with an injury after his first punt as a Hoosier. Cignetti said Monday that the 27-year-old Australian is “sorta day-to-day" as he’s got “a little bit of an issue.”
Sophomore kicker Quinn Warren will continue to step in for McCarthy.
The Hoosiers and Sycamores will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Friday with the contest being televised on the Big Ten Network.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
