Indiana football made its mark as one of the most disciplined defensive teams in the nation last season. The Hoosiers rarely made mistakes en route to a national championship win.
Indiana also established itself as a consistent force in the run game in 2025, recording a program-record six 300-yard rushing performances.
These two areas are essential for any team wanting to compete.
But the Hoosiers didn’t set the tone in the run game and missed 13 tackles in their season opener against the University of North Texas on Sept. 5. Despite a 52-16 win, head coach Curt Cignetti made it clear his team did not meet the standard last weekend.
The Cream and Crimson upped their standard of play during a 55-0 victory over Howard University on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
In an appearance on the Inside Indiana Football radio show on Thursday, Cignetti said a disappointing season opener prompted him to “send a message” to his team.
Following a shutout victory against Howard, the third-year head coach said there “was a better taste in our mouths.”
North Texas outgained Indiana 152-134 in rushing yards, and a 43-yard rushing touchdown from seventh-year quarterback Grant Wilson inflated the Hoosiers’ rushing line. In the backfield, redshirt senior running back Lee Beebe Jr. and junior running back Turbo Richard combined for just 3.1 yards per carry.
“We just gotta do way better in the run game,” redshirt senior offensive lineman Joe Brunner said postgame Saturday. “Talking about last week, I think we did that this week.”
The Hoosiers set the ground game tone early against Howard. On their second series, the Cream and Crimson ran the ball on eight of their 10 plays. Beebe and Richard both surpassed 100 rushing yards. Beebe led the team with 117 yards across 16 carries, while Richard handled 11 attempts for 108 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Howard struggled to find rushing space against Indiana’s defensive front. The Bison mustered just 13 yards in 27 attempts with four ball carriers in the negatives.
In 2025, Indiana led the nation with 129 tackles for loss. On Saturday, its defensive front collected 12 TFLs –– a step up from its seven last weekend. It was a collective team effort as nine different Hoosiers contributed a TFL. Sophomore defensive lineman Keishaun Calhoun and junior defensive lineman Daniel Ndukwe tied for a team-lead two TFLs.
“Yeah, that’s great,” Cignetti said of his defensive line Saturday. “Back to how we used to be.”
Howard struggled to move the ball throughout the afternoon. The Bison earned just four first downs to the Hoosiers’ 24. Indiana also limited Howard to just 1.2 yards per play –– over four yards less than North Texas’ 5.5 yards per play average last weekend.
The Cream and Crimson were also much more effective getting to the quarterback Saturday. After picking up just one sack in its season opener, Indiana had five against Howard.
While it did not result in a sack, redshirt senior defensive lineman Josh Burnham had perhaps the Hoosiers’ most impactful pressure. On a third-and-8 in the second quarter, Burnham broke through the Bisons’ protection and laid a hit on graduate student quarterback Ja’Shawn Scroggins.
Scroggins released the ball just as Burnham made contact, forcing an errant throw that fell into the hands of junior linebacker Rolijah Hardy, who took the ball the opposite way for a pick six.
Coming from the University of Notre Dame, Burnham was one of eight defensive players Indiana added via the transfer portal before the season. With a large collection of new talent, it will take time and full-speed repetitions for the new-look unit to gel.
This was seen in Indiana’s 2025 Week 1 contest against Old Dominion University, when the Hoosiers surrendered a 75-yard touchdown on the opening play. But the defense gathered itself, allowing just nine combined points in its final two nonconference games.
“I think it’s chemistry,” Hardy said Saturday. “I think as we continue to play these games, we’re gonna be able to play off of each other. And I think today showed that.”
Now, the challenge will be maintaining this level of play as tougher conference games loom, including an Oct. 17 showdown against No. 1 Ohio State. In the meantime, Indiana can continue building chemistry, as the Hoosiers host Western Kentucky University on Sept. 19 to close nonconference play.
“We keep a high standard and the standard always gonna be the standard,” Hardy said. “...Coach Cig (Cignetti) challenged us to get better this week, and I think we did better.”
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.
