No. 5 Indiana football began its season with a 52-16 trouncing of the University of North Texas on Sept. 5. In Week 2, the Hoosiers will face their lone Football Championship Subdivision opponent as Howard University comes to Bloomington.
Battle of the Bison
Howard is led by first-year head coach Ted White, who has spent time coaching at Maryland, UCLA and with the NFL's Houston Texans. The Bison earned their first victory of the season in Week 0, taking down Alabama A&M University 31-24 on Aug. 29.
Through two games, the Bison have produced 676 yards of offense. Of that, 512 yards are from graduate student quarterback Ja'Shawn Scroggins, including 139 yards as a rusher. However, his eight sacks taken have brought the total down to 88, which still leads the team.
"He's a really good athlete," Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said of Scroggins in a press conference Monday. "They've got good team speed. I mean, they've got skill. Even on defense, they've got quickness and speed. So the quarterback, he's played a lot for them and he's a dual guy."
Howard is coming off a 28-21 loss to FCS opponent and No. 23 Richmond University last weekend. In the game, the Bison rallied from 20 down at halftime to get within a score. Scroggins completed just nine of his 27 passing attempts against the Spiders, finishing with 109 yards, a touchdown and an interception through the air. The Bison's 131 rushing yards weren't enough to overcome the first half deficit.
Entering its third game, Howard gives up 346.5 yards per game and averages 71 penalty yards. Under Cignetti, the Cream and Crimson average 690.5 yards and 75 points per game against FCS opponents.
Last week
Led by six offensive newcomers, the Cream and Crimson scored on eight of their nine drives, achieving a vastly different start to the season than in the 2025 season opener against Old Dominion University.
Redshirt senior transfer quarterback Josh Hoover shined in his Hoosier debut, completing 13 of 16 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns. With redshirt sophomore running back Khobie Martin sidelined due to injury for much of the contest, junior transfer Turbo Richard joined returning redshirt senior Lee Beebe Jr. in handling rushing duties.
Despite Richard finding paydirt twice, the pair largely struggled to break through North Texas' staunch front seven. However, the Mean Green's defensive approach paved the way for Hoover's success through the air.
"They had a hard time covering us," Cignetti said. "They were going to try to do as good as they could against the run and take their chances against the pass, and we won our one-on-ones."
Junior wide receiver Charlie Becker was the main beneficiary of one-on-one matchups. In 2025, Becker caught four passes through Indiana's first seven games. It took just one game for the 2025 breakout star to match that total this year.
Becker hauled in four passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns, including a one-on-one contested catch from 35 yards out in the third quarter. After Week 1, Becker's connection and respect for Hoover is evident.
"His leadership has been a huge point for our offense," Becker said Tuesday. "If he is out here bloodied up, then we can suffer through a couple more plays and play for one another."
While Indiana's offense propelled the final score, defensive lapses marred the performance. Despite losing by 36 points, the Mean Green still outgained the Cream and Crimson.
"Defense had a hard time getting off the field," Cignetti said. "And the opponent had the ball 37 minutes, a combination of some critical missed assignments, poor tackling. So gotta get better there."
North Texas' redshirt senior quarterback Tayven Jackson — a former Hoosier — gashed Indiana's defense throughout the game, completing 22 of 28 passes for 192 yards.
From late in the first half through most of the third quarter, Jackson completed 10 straight passes. The stretch was highlighted by a surgical six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to start the second half.
Redshirt senior linebacker Isaiah Jones led the Hoosiers with 12 tackles, redshirt senior defensive lineman Tobi Osunsanmi netted two tackles for loss and redshirt senior defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker earned the game's only sack. Jones, who now wears the green dot and handles helmet communication for the defense, was "unsatisfied" with the effort postgame against North Texas.
"I think all the ones that have been here on that side of the ball felt that way during the game and after the game," Cignetti said of his defensive veterans. "And it's got to get better. There's things we have to do better. And I'm sure it will."
Indiana will look to extend its nation-leading 17-game winning streak against the Bison at noon Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Elakai Anela (@elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
