The third season of Indiana University football under the coaching genius of Curt Cignetti got underway this past Saturday, and I thought I need to offer my totally biased opinion about the Hoosier’s first 2026 outing. It’s quite amazing how every IU alum now has a 180° different attitude about Indiana football. Our expectations have increased exponentially to where anything less than a near perfect season seems like a failure. We IU faithful have forgotten how dismal IU football was before Coach Cig appeared in Bloomington, and how Memorial Stadium was barely half full on most Saturdays for decades until 2024.
My expectations were definitely high, too, because I thought IU would win 63-3. North Texas was a tougher opponent than I expected. I should have known better because Texas high schools always produce a bumper crop of good football players that get dispersed around the country. So their performance shouldn’t have surprised me. As I see it, either North Texas was better than I thought or IU has some weaknesses that were exploited.
Two major problems I noted were—one, the defense, which preseason analysts said was better than last year, definitely needs some fine tuning, and two: the offensive line, again highly touted, was able to protect the quarterback, but was unable to produce a seriously effective running game. The defense wasn’t dismal, but it was darn close to it. I haven’t seen IU miss so many tackles, nor have I seen so many wide-open receivers in two years. Admittedly, the two starting cornerbacks were injured in the first quarter so back-ups played the majority of the game. I’ll use that to explain the porous secondary. Sophomore running back Khobe Martin was injured in the first quarter so his role in the offense was short-lived.
Josh Hoover, the quarterback transfer from TCU, played very well. His passes were quick and accurate, and his completion percentage was 81% on 13 of 16 for 231 yards. The play that showed his toughness, though, was the tackle behind the line of scrimmage where his face mask was grabbed forcing his helmet to turn 90° with his head still in it. The chin strap came loose so when the helmet rotated it scraped the skin off his nose causing blood to run down his face and into his mouth. He had to come out until the bleeding could be controlled. He came back, though, and played well the rest of the game.
Overall, despite a poor showing from the “O line” and the “D,” I’m optimistic these problems can be corrected. Tackling and blocking need to improve, the defensive secondary needs to get well, and Hoover’s nose almost needed a skin graft.
Next Saturday, Howard is IU’s opponent. I don’t know if they’re any good, but we need to go into the game with the mind set they are, and we need to give our all. I’ll report about Howard next week. William M. Gilkison MD
