Before Indiana football defeated Old Dominion University on Aug. 30, head coach Curt Cignetti said the Hoosiers needed everyone “making it happen, playing at a high level” so his squad could walk away from the season opener happy.
The Cream and Crimson won, but they were far from happy with the result. And around the country, several teams struggled in Week 1 — two that made the College Football Playoff in 2024.
Arizona State University defeated Northern Arizona University 38-19 on Aug. 30, but the Sun Devils’ offense was disjointed and even sloppy at times throughout the game. They went just two for 10 on third downs and committed 12 penalties for 93 yards.
Southern Methodist University beat East Texas A&M University 42-13 on Aug. 30; however, the Mustangs scored two defensive touchdowns. Their offense committed three turnovers and possessed the ball for just over a third of the game.
So, as Indiana prepares for its second game of the season, which is slated for noon Saturday against Kennesaw State University at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, it isn’t alone in being dissatisfied and ready to improve.
“We struggled a little bit last year from different sides of the ball with different things,” junior cornerback D’Angelo Ponds said during media availability Tuesday. “It’s Week 1, so everybody has something to work on around the country, so I feel like it’s no panic around the defense. I feel like we’re going to be good.”
The defense
Old Dominion redshirt sophomore quarterback Colton Joseph’s two 75-plus-yard touchdown runs marred the otherwise solid performance from the Hoosiers’ defense.
The Monarchs didn’t take a snap on the other side of the 50-yard line in the contest. Indiana also notched three interceptions. Still, there were some similarities to the 2024 season opener in which Indiana defeated Florida International University by 24 points.
Ponds said the defense’s emphasis leading up to Saturday’s game has been “learning from our mistakes, taking it day by day, getting better.”
Saturday provides Indiana’s defense another opportunity to get in-game repetitions ahead of its Big Ten opener against No. 11 Illinois on Sept. 20. Ponds believes the unit, which finished second overall in total defense in the FBS in 2024, is “building on something.”
Much like Week 1, the Hoosiers are tasked with stopping another mobile quarterback: former Hoosier Dexter Williams II.
Williams ran for 44 yards in the Owls’ season-opening loss to Wake Forest University. As a Hoosier in 2022, he ran for 165 yards across four games.
To contain quarterbacks like Williams, Ponds said it comes down to just “being disciplined, staying on your guy.”
The offense
Indiana’s lack of red zone execution in the season opener is well-documented.
Cignetti said the Hoosiers left “probably 35 points” on the field. They settled for two field goals and two turnovers on downs in the red zone. They also fumbled at the 20-yard line.
Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza took accountability postgame. But redshirt senior center Pat Coogan said all 11 players on offense would say the “same exact thing.”
“No one was perfect on Saturday, 100%,” Coogan said Tuesday. “Everyone’s got stuff to clean up, and that starts with me as well. It starts inside out on the offensive line, so we all got to be better, myself included for sure.”
Coogan, who transferred from the University of Notre Dame in the offseason, said the offensive line has to take the struggles inside the red zone on the chin. Finishing drives with touchdowns is something the unit “has to pride themselves on,” he said.
“We fell short of that goal and that mission, and so we all have to be accountable and look ourselves in the mirror,” Coogan said. “...Everyone’s got to be accountable, and everyone has been, so it’s been great to see.”
When it comes to correcting the mishaps so the Hoosiers can finish drives with touchdowns, Coogan said it’s important to focus on the details, such as hat placement — where an offensive lineman puts his helmet in relation to the defender he’s tasked with blocking.
“It’s like those really small things an individual or an outsider may not think is that important,” Coogan said. “Again, it shows up on Saturday when there’s penetration and it’s a tackle for loss or whatever it may be. It’s those very small things.”
Still, Indiana’s offense racked up 502 total yards, including 309 yards rushing. However, the offense wants to be better as a whole, redshirt senior running back Roman Hemby said after the season opener.
Coogan said the Hoosiers can’t dwell on the mistakes they made against the Monarchs.
“We got to be like, ‘Alright, we know what we did wrong, we know how to fix it,’” he said. “Which is good because we know how to fix it, and then we got to move on and get better from there.”
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.
