Through his first two games with Indiana football, Riley Nowakowski hasn’t stuffed the stat sheet with touchdowns like senior receiver Elijah Sarratt or yards like redshirt senior running back Roman Hemby.
Nowakowski has just three receptions for 29 yards and one rushing attempt for one yard and a touchdown.
But Old Dominion University and Kennesaw State University — the Hoosiers’ first two opponents of the season — felt the sixth-year senior tight end’s presence.
“He was the player of the game on offense, sort of an unsung hero, high effort, high character, gives you everything he's got play in and play out, really dependable,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said in a press conference Monday. “Really played well Saturday.”
Nowakowski got the Hoosiers on the scoreboard against the Owls with his 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He then helped the Hoosiers rack up seven more touchdowns with his blocking abilities, playing a crucial role in redshirt junior receiver Omar Cooper Jr.’s 75-yard score.
The 6-foot-1, 249-pound Nowakowski began his collegiate career as a linebacker at Wisconsin in 2020. He then moved to fullback for two seasons before shifting to tight end in 2024, when he caught 11 passes for 74 yards.
After the Badgers finished 5-7 last season, their second under head coach Luke Fickell, Nowakowski entered the transfer portal. He was looking to stay in the Big Ten, which he described as the “best” conference in college football on Under the Hood with Indiana Football on Wednesday.
“I will die on that hill,” he said.
Indiana originally piqued Nowakowski’s interest because of the similarities to the system he was used to at Wisconsin. He knew he’d fit in well with the Hoosiers schematically, but also culture-wise.
“And then just the culture, the culture of the guys, like the locker room, like it seemed like everybody was in it and they were in it for like the right reasons,” Nowakowski said. “You know, everybody was committed, like showing up every day.”
When Nowakowski took his official visit, he got a first-hand look at the culture amid the Hoosiers’ preparations for their College Football Playoff matchup with the University of Notre Dame.
Nowakowski said it’s difficult keeping first-team, second-team and scout-team players locked in for the duration of the season, but that’s what he saw on his visit. Everybody was itching to play, he said, like the Hoosiers were still in the first few weeks of their season.
That alone showed Nowakowski the mentality of Cignetti.
Then he spoke to the then-first year Hoosiers head coach.
“I've really started experiencing it during the season, but even when I talked to him, like on my official, like it was just like this sense of like urgency,” he said. “Like the sense of like never being satisfied.”
Cignetti’s urgency is similar to what Nowakowski’s parents instilled in him. The score doesn’t matter. It’s being consistently unsatisfied, win or loss.
“Like it’s the same mentality over and over again,” Nowakowski said. “I don't care if life's coming at you harder, you're living the good life. Like you got to still approach every day the same way. So, I think that was like a really big thing that drew me to Cig (Cignetti) and this program.”
Nowakowski committed to the Hoosiers on Dec. 18. He then enrolled at Indiana ahead of the spring semester.
Since then, he’s wasted no time making his mark on his new squad.
Hemby, who transferred from Maryland, and Nowakowski arrived at Indiana together in the winter. The former sensed the latter’s locker room presence immediately. The two were trying to build something together with their combined nine seasons of experience in the Big Ten, Hemby said.
“So, when we first got out here, I kind of could see that he was a leader,” Hemby said during media availability Tuesday. “He was somebody that came to work prepared every day. And it just rolled over through spring ball and to camp.”
Now, as Indiana seeks to start 3-0 before beginning Big Ten play against No. 9 Illinois on Sept. 20, Nowakowski and the Hoosiers are looking to make improvements.
In its season opener against Old Dominion on Aug. 30, Indiana struggled to convert in the red zone. It scored just two touchdowns in six trips. Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza struggled in the contest, going 18 for 31 for 193 yards passing.
Against Kennesaw State on Sept. 6, the Hoosiers displayed improvement. They scored seven touchdowns in their seven trips to the red zone. Mendoza tossed four touchdowns in the victory, passing for 245 yards.
Nowakowski said there’s “a lot of small things” the Cream and Crimson can fix.
Although the Hoosiers scored 56 points in their dominant victory, Cignetti talked to his squad about the opportunities they left on the field. They could’ve had 70-plus points, Nowakowski said.
“You got to make the most of every single opportunity,” he said. “So, I think that's like the big focus this week is like, hey, everything that comes our way, every play that needs to be made, we need to make it.”
While Mendoza, who Nowakowski said is “one of the most talented quarterbacks” he’s been around, is in command of the offense, Nowakowski's dominant blocking enables the offense to score points.
His dominance shows up in film sessions, too. So does his effort — something Sarratt has picked up from the sixth-year tight end.
“You look at yourself in the mirror and you're like, ‘Man, what am I doing? Am I giving that same effort every single play?’” Sarratt said during media availability Tuesday. “So, when I catch the ball, I see him busting his butt to go find someone every single play. So, we want to pride ourselves in the receiver room on doing that same thing.”
With the Hoosiers slated to face Indiana State University at 6:30 p.m. Friday inside Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Nowakowski said the first handful of plays on the offense’s opening possession are critical.
Both Indiana’s offense and its opponents’ defense are trying to gain a feel for each other, Nowakowski said. But his mentality is different.
Before the opening kickoff, Nowakowski likes to get “a few good pops in” so that’s he prepared for the contest.
Then, once it begins, it’s on. He’s “not going to feel anybody out,” he said.
“I'm going to go hit somebody like trying to run through their face and kind of set the precedent for what this whole entire game is going to be like,” Nowakowski said. “’Cause I mean, the more you hit a guy, the less he’s going to want to come after you... Like it gets to a point where you just break them.”
While the Hoosiers are favored by 48.5 points to beat the Sycamores, the game provides an opportunity for Indiana to continue executing at a high level, Nowakowski's blocking included.
“I mean, obviously, we got to get through this group (Indiana State) first, but once Big Ten play starts, okay isn't good enough,” he said. “...You have to be at your best.”
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.
