No. 5 Indiana football is 3-0 for the third time in as many years under head coach Curt Cignetti.
The Hoosiers dominated their nonconference opponents, beating the University of North Texas, Howard University and Western Kentucky University by an average of 43 points. They’ve also held opponents scoreless in consecutive contests for the first time since 1993.
Entering Friday’s Big Ten opener against Northwestern, Indiana is averaging nearly 50 points per game with an efficient attack through the air and on the ground. Redshirt senior quarterback Josh Hoover boasts a 72.5% completion percentage, racking up 10 passing touchdowns and no interceptions.
Despite some inaccuracies in the Week 3 victory over the Hilltoppers, Cignetti made it clear where he stands on his quarterback.
“I think there is too much scrutiny on Josh Hoover right now,” Cignetti said at a press conference Monday. “I'm glad he's our quarterback.”
Another rising star on the offense is junior running back Turbo Richard. Through three games, Richard ranks in the top five in the conference in both rushing yards — 315 — and rushing touchdowns — 4 — despite sharing the backfield with redshirt senior Lee Beebe Jr.
Beebe has carried the ball six more times than Richard, but averages over 3 fewer yards per rush. Beebe has tallied five rushes of 10 or more yards this season, trailing Richard’s 12.
The Hoosiers’ biggest evolution in nonconference play has been the defensive side. The Cream and Crimson surrendered several chunk plays to North Texas, allowing 16 points to the Mean Green.
Since then, Indiana hasn’t allowed a point. However, the Big Ten presents a different challenge for a unit that allowed the second-fewest points per game in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2025.
“We're very critical of ourselves on defense,” redshirt senior linebacker Isaiah Jones said Tuesday. “We want to see what our weaknesses are so we can perform better, so we can fix those as the season goes on. The team you're playing with in Week 12 isn't the team you're playing with in Week 1 and Week 5.”
Jones leads the Hoosiers in tackles in his first season wearing the green dot, a role Aiden Fisher held for the first two years of the Cignetti era. Redshirt senior defensive lineman Tobi Osunsanmi owns a team-high 4.5 tackles for loss and is tied with redshirt freshman Keishaun Calhoun for the team lead with two sacks.
Indiana’s first matchup of the Big Ten slate comes against a high-powered offense. The Hoosiers will take on Northwestern (2-0) at 8 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
Meet the Wildcats
Before Cignetti earned back-to-back Big Ten Coach of the Year honors, Northwestern head coach David Braun was the most recent honoree.
Braun transformed the Wildcats from one-win into an 8-5 team in just one year. However, Northwestern hasn’t topped 2023’s win total since.
In the 2026 season, the Wildcats have defeated both South Dakota State University and the University of Colorado in dominant fashion. Northwestern averages 37.5 points per game, highlighted by a 41-7 rout of the Buffaloes.
The standout of the Wildcats’ offense is a familiar face for Cignetti. Senior quarterback Aidan Chiles transferred to Northwestern from Michigan State, where he faced the Hoosiers in each of the past two seasons.
Chiles’ Spartans were the first team to ever take a lead over Cignetti’s Hoosiers. In 2024, Chiles connected with future Hoosier wide receiver Nick Marsh for an 18-yard touchdown to take a 10-0 lead before the Cream and Crimson scored the contest’s final 47 points.
In October 2025, Chiles again posed a threat when the Spartans came to Bloomington. Chiles maneuvered around the pocket, escaping multiple times for big gains. He also gashed the Hoosiers’ defense with a 64-yard designed QB rush.
As a Wildcat, Chiles has continued to attack with his arm and his legs. Through two games, he’s tallied 514 yards and four touchdowns through the air while adding three touchdowns on the ground.
“He'll drop back, play-action, out-of-pocket, multiple formations, personnel groupings, spread the ball in the pass game,” Cignetti said. “Hasn't thrown an interception yet all season long and can extend plays, tuck it and run, which we saw. I think he broke one for about 60 on us last year. He's a really good player.”
Chiles’ go-to weapon is senior wide receiver Griffin Wilde. The pair have connected eight times for 189 yards so far this season. Graduate running back Joseph Himon II has hauled in touchdowns on three of his four catches, but graduate running back Gavin Sawchuk and redshirt junior running back Caleb Komolafe have garnered most of the carries.
Sawchuk and Komolafe have combined for 212 yards on 41 carries but have just one touchdown between them.
Northwestern will be a step up for an Indiana defense that hasn’t been challenged early in the season. The Hoosiers will take on the Wildcats at 8 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium.
“They're a good football team, well coached,” Jones said. “We're excited to open Big Ten play with them here on Friday.”
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.
