Indiana football has won 19 consecutive home games. The Hoosiers’ last loss at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington came against Michigan State in November 2023. While Indiana is unbeaten at home in head coach Curt Cignetti’s three-year tenure so far, the Cream and Crimson have looked vulnerable on the road.
The Hoosiers’ two losses in 2024 to Ohio State and the University of Notre Dame were on the road. While Indiana mostly cruised through its regular season schedule last season, it played one-score games at Iowa and Penn State.
After an undefeated four-game home stretch to begin 2026, the No. 6 Hoosiers travel to Piscataway, New Jersey, for their first road trip of the season against Rutgers at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
“We're going on the road,” Cignetti said during a press conference Monday. “We’re still playing on a 100-yard football field, 52 yards wide. So, got a lot of veterans on this team that have been there. It's a business trip, so going there — we gotta prepare well this week and put it between the white lines.”
Indiana enters the road contest after an “inconsistent” performance against Northwestern last Friday. Despite outgaining the Wildcats 472-325, the Hoosiers won by just six points after being outscored 23-17 in the second half.
“Negative is we didn't play well,” Cignetti said. “We were very inconsistent. We gotta play better. We're not going to go very far playing the way we played Saturday night.”
Inconsistency has been common for the Hoosiers through their four games. Western Kentucky University shut out Indiana in Week 3’s first quarter. While Indiana went on to win 38-0, it held just a 14-point lead at halftime.
Junior running back Turbo Richard — Indiana’s leading rusher entering last week’s contest — missed the entirety of the second half against Northwestern with a lower body injury, but is expected to play against Rutgers.
However, redshirt senior running back Lee Beebe Jr. — who exploded for 203 ground yards against Northwestern — appeared on the Big Ten availability report Thursday with a questionable tag. If he is unable to suit up or is limited against Rutgers, the Hoosiers will once again be shallow at running back.
Meet the Scarlet Knights
Rutgers’ 2026 season began in disappointing fashion, dropping its first three games. The Scarlet Knights opened their year with a 37-21 loss to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, before falling to Boston College in Week 2.
The Scarlet Knights were competitive in a high-scoring matchup against then-No. 12 USC, but fell 42-35. Rutgers notched its first victory against Howard University on Sept. 25, defeating the Bison 58-7. Indiana earned a shutout 55-0 victory over Howard two weeks earlier.
After leading the program from 2001-2011, head coach Greg Schiano returned to Piscataway in 2020. Prior to his first tenure, Rutgers had made one bowl appearance in school history. Since hiring Schiano for the first time, the Scarlet Knights have made nine bowl appearances, including a seven-win season in 2024 — the program’s first in ten years.
While the Scarlet Knights are just 1-3 this season, they average 33.8 points per game.
“They're capable of scoring points and they do score points,” Cignetti said.
After suffering an injury in Rutgers’ season opener against UMass and missing the Scarlet Knights’ contest against Boston College, senior quarterback Dylan Lonergan has led the passing attack. Lonergan has thrown for 708 yards and seven touchdowns across three starts.
While he has been effective through the air, Lonergan has also struggled with ball security. His five interceptions tie for the most in the Big Ten. Lonergan tossed three picks against UMass and two in the loss to USC.
When dropping back to pass, Lonergan’s primary target is typically junior wide receiver KJ Duff, who is one of the most prolific pass-catchers in the country. The 6-foot-6 receiver ties for a nation-leading seven touchdown catches and ranks fourth in the country with 550 receiving yards. Duff is a long-ball threat with receptions of 77 and 78 yards already this year.
“KJ Duff is a top-five receiver in America,” Cignetti said on the Inside Indiana Football radio show Thursday. “And there’s no doubt about that.”
Rutgers also boasts one of the Big Ten’s best running backs in junior Antwan Raymond, who averages 5.6 yards per carry. Across 78 attempts, Raymond has collected 438 rushing yards — the 10th most in the country and second-highest total in the conference.
Raymond enters Saturday following three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances. Against Howard last weekend, Raymond rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns.
“He's a good player,” Cignetti said. “He's one of the premier backs in this conference. You know, they're not real fancy in their run game. They do a few things in the run game really well.”
While limiting Rutgers’ offense will be a challenge for the Hoosiers, Cignetti emphasized his team will need complete performances in all three phases to leave New Jersey with a win.
“I’m still looking for a game where offense, defense and special teams play to the standard from the beginning to the end because we haven’t done that yet,” Cignetti said Thursday. “And we sure could use it this week in our first road contest up at Rutgers.”
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.
