The 2025 Indiana football season was filled with iconic moments. Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. caught game-winning touchdowns. D'Angelo Ponds found the end zone twice. Fernando Mendoza leaped across the goal line in the National Championship game.
In their 2026 season opener, the Cream and Crimson never trailed, downing the University of North Texas 52-16 Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
But one memory of last year lingered in head coach Curt Cignetti's mind leading up to the opening kickoff: Old Dominion University quarterback Colton Joseph's 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of Indiana's 16-0 season.
"That's one of the things we talked about in the locker room when I talked to the team right before the game is, ‘Let's start a little better than last year when ODU scored on the first play of the game,’" Cignetti said postgame. "We did."
This year, it was the Hoosiers who started the game with an explosive play. Redshirt senior running back Lee Beebe Jr. took the opening kick 67 yards to the North Texas 20-yard line.
Three plays later, junior wide receiver Nick Marsh snagged a one-handed touchdown to put Indiana in front within the first two minutes of action.
Beebe's 2025 season was cut short due to a knee injury suffered in Week 3 against Indiana State University. In his return to the field, Beebe's impact was felt from the very first play.
"It was great," Beebe said postgame. "Especially, me coming back from the ACL, I cried because I just missed the sport so much."
A year ago, Indiana was coming off a disappointing loss to the University of Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff. The opening play was ammo for those who believed 2024 was a fluke.
This year, the Hoosiers entered the season as reigning champions with a target on their backs. Simply playing against Indiana is monumental for its opponents.
"It's huge for the university," North Texas head coach Neal Brown said Tuesday about playing the Hoosiers. "I think it goes bigger than just our football program."
In 2026, taking on Indiana is an honor. The Hoosiers' reputation motivates their opponents to play their best. That kind of pressure is new to Bloomington. But Cignetti doesn't worry about it.
"I bought a bigger gun," Cignetti told Barstool Sports on July 31.
Cignetti's upgraded arsenal is spearheaded by redshirt senior quarterback Josh Hoover, who transferred from Texas Christian University. He marked the biggest difference in the Hoosiers' last two season openers.
Against Old Dominion, Indiana's passing game struggled. Then-redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza completed just 58% of his passes and didn't throw a touchdown. Meanwhile, the Cream and Crimson rushed for 309 yards.
Hoover's Hoosiers flipped the script.
Indiana's new signal caller posted an 81% completion rate, racking up 231 passing yards and four touchdowns.
But the run game faltered. The running back tandem of Beebe and junior Turbo Richard combined for just 3.2 yards per carry, and it took a 43-yard dash to the end zone from seventh-year senior quarterback Grant Wilson in the final minutes to pass 100 yards on the ground.
The momentum of the game was another area which diverged from last year. After allowing a score on the first play in 2025, Indiana's defense took control. Old Dominion didn't add to its total until its final drive in the fourth quarter.
This year, the Mean Green consistently gashed the Hoosiers' defense, heating up as the game progressed. Indiana only forced one three-and-out all game, and North Texas went 75 yards in six plays to open the third quarter with a touchdown.
"The defense left the field unsatisfied with how we played," redshirt senior linebacker Isaiah Jones said. "You just want to see better attacking. You want to see more explosive plays."
Indiana only managed one sack and seven tackles for loss against North Texas. The Mean Green had four second-half drives with 30 or more offensive yards and possessed the ball for nearly 15 minutes longer than the Hoosiers.
For a second straight year, Indiana leaves its season opener with much to improve on. But for the players, the mindset moving forward is simple.
"We don't really look at last season," junior wide receiver Charlie Becker said. "We don't really care about it. We're 1-0 right now, just looking to go 2-0 next week."
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.
