The IUFB Spring Game happened! Yes! Actual Indiana Football players on the field in Memorial Stadium for the first time since November 15th, when Wisconsin was in town.
I want to caveat everything I’m about to say here: All of this is to be taken with a massive grain of salt. Anyone attempting to make broad, overarching arguments from what we watched isn’t to be taken seriously. Again, for those in the back: This is a glorified practice and no different than the scrimmages played during Hoosier Hysteria, and maybe even less so, because we’re still 5 months from actual football.
My Take is simply going to be observations from what we watched.
With all that out of the way…It was great to watch actual football get played again. As with every college sport in the portal era, IU has a ton of new faces and numbers to get used to so the Spring Game is always a good time for fans to get to see everyone on the field, in uniform, even if it’s for a practice.
The atmosphere was great. IU announced 22k for an attendance which is wild because when I was a student in the early to mid aughts, 22k was some of the early non-conference home game attendance.
People were tailgating, and Bloomington did not disappoint with a beautiful, 80-degree spring night.
IUFB Draft Night Excitement
First, we have to start with the NFL Draft and Fernando Mendoza…And Omar Cooper Jr.
It’s been the worst-kept secret for going on four months that he’d be getting selected first overall in the NFL Draft and going to Las Vegas to play for the Raiders. I know some people would have liked for him to be at the actual draft, but the moment is so much more than just football; that he gets to go first overall with all the people that pushed him to this point, on his own terms, with his sick mother and the rest of his family by his side at home in Miami, just drove home, for me, why these guys do this.
I don’t like the Raiders (it’s a Patriots fandom thing I grew up getting from my dad), but I’ll be rooting for them now that “our guy” is playing for them. Congrats!
The signs were always there for Omar Cooper Jr. to be a first-rounder for people who follow IU like the ones reading this, even going back to ’24 with a hobbled Kurtis Rourke. It just took the spotlight of lighting up elite competition on the CFP stage for it to finally click for draftniks. Add to that the show Cooper put on at the IU Pro Day and Cooper going 30th overall to the Jets makes a ton of sense for a team desperate for offensive weapons.
I didn’t give any stats for Mendoza because people are pretty familiar with his body of work, but I felt like I should with Cooper because it seems like, with all the guys making plays last year in big spots, he might have gone a bit under the radar (which is why it took the NFL people to notice).
After playing just 45 total snaps in the slot in his career and following an injury to Michigan transfer WR Tyler Morris (more on him later), Curt Cignetti and co. moved Cooper there, where he played 83% of his snaps, and it proved to be a match made in heaven for him and IU.
Even after moving to the slot, Cooper still finished in the 90th percentile, and 44th nationally, in yards per route run at 2.55 (Y/RR). He had just 5 total drops on 171 targets and 115 catches in his career (4.2%). Cooper tied for 4th nationally in missed tackles forced (27), just behind new IU WR Nick Marsh, who had 28 in 4 fewer games (more on him later). Oh, and he finished 56th nationally in blocking grade by WR’s (90th percentile) and 2nd overall to OSU’s Jeremiah Smith in WR grade against zone coverage.
I could keep going, but I’ll stop there…Cooper can do it all and I can’t wait to watch him in New York next year, even though I can’t stand the Jets.
Side note: As I said, I hate the Jets, but I like what they did in the first round, adding three sure-fire starters in DE David Bailey, TE Kenyon Sadiq and the aforementioned Cooper. They didn’t get a QB, but none were worth it there, and next year’s draft will be loaded with QBs.
IUFB Lineup Thoughts and Statistics
And now to the Spring Game itself…I’ll be using stats from Colin McMahon on Twitter when talking stats with the obvious caveat that these are all unofficial.
The biggest thing was that Curt Cignetti said after the game that no one was injured in the game…After the Morris injury last spring (not in the spring game), it’s good to know that IU should be going into Fall Camp this summer at nearly 100%. Cignettie also said that IU had 17 total players out, including 6 from the offense and defense that are either starters or key contributors and a lot of it was wear and tear from a 16-game season.
Before we dig in, I went back and checked the starters on offense and defense. You can see my working depth chart here, but again, with all the injuries, I’m not taking a ton away from who was where in this game.
Here is where I had the first team offense and defense, and I could be wrong:
Offense
LT Adedamola Ajani / LG Sam Simpson / C Drew Evans / RG Austin Leibfried / RT Joe Brunner
QB Josh Hoover / RB Khobie Martin / TE Andrew Barker / WR Davion Chandler and Nick Marsh outside, Slot LeBron Bond
Defense
SDE Chiddi Obiazor / NT Tyrique Tucker / DT Mario Landino / Stud Tobi Osunsanmi
LB Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy
CB Jamari Sharpe and Jaylen “Hollywood” Bell
FS Amare Ferrell / SS Preston Zachman / Rover Byron Baldwin
We knew coming in that the IU DL had the leg up on a beat-up OL with guys sitting, nursing injuries from a long season…because Curt Cignetti said as much in the lead up (listen to the end). But this was a chance to get to see new QB Josh Hoover spin it for the first time, and, I’m not going to lie, he didn’t disappoint, even with the elite DL play.
Hoover is listed at 6’2, but by all accounts, he’s not 6’2. That said, he can really spin it for a smaller guy and has a really good feel, already, for the offense and his receivers. An interview with Charlie Becker (who is out with a hamstring) revealed that Hoover throws more than just about anyone and was willing to work basically any time with guys who wanted to. It may have taken a drive to get a feel, but he’s a veteran and I’m not worried in the slightest.
I’ve been a fan of Hoover since he committed to IU years back and am very excited to see how he leads this team in ’26. I’m not too big a fan to admit that Hoover looked a little shaky in his first time on the field. I think a lot of that had to do with a freshman like iOL Sam Simpson going up against elite DE Tobi Onsunsanmi, but Hoover finished (unofficially) 6/13 for 94 yards. I wouldn’t say he looked bad, but he looked like a guy without multiple starting OL going up against an IU defense that is poised to be, at minimum, as good as last season and, I would argue, has a higher ceiling than last year given the athleticism and speed.
Hoover (and back up redshirt senior QB Grant Wilson – 3/4 for 84 yards and a TD) looked comfortable finding a guy who’s been waiting a long time to take the field in an IU uniform, slot WR Tyler Morris.
After a couple of iffy drives, Hoover settled in, and you could see the game slow down for him. I actually think that was the best thing I saw from him. He started processing faster and the ball came out much more on time. The timing is a work in progress, but we all remember how some were nervous about Fernando Mendoza even after the first couple of games last year, and he wont he Heisman and went #1 overall. It’s unfair to put that type of pressure on Hoover, but I was impressed by the way he responded to not looking good on the opening drive.
Wide Receivers and Cornerback
Speaking of Morris, he looked smooth slipping right into that slot role vacated by Omar Cooper and looked 100% from the ACL injury that befell him last spring. Morris finished with 5 catches for 115 yards and a TD.
And it wasn’t just Morris getting comfortable with their QB’s in this system. Along with Morris, the other sure fire contributors on the outside, Davion Chandler (2 catches for 30 yards), Nick Marsh (2 catches for 23 yards) and Shazz Preston (1 catch for 22 yards), in the absence of Charlie Becker, all had catches and showed the ability to find open space and make moves after the catch. You could see as the “game” went on, they all felt more comfortable in what the defense was giving them and were much more in tune with Josh Hoover.
Marsh was in a battle with true sophomore Jaylen “Hollywood” Bell most of the night, draw a couple penalties on Bell but I was impressed with Bell who wasn’t afraid to go right at Marsh, who is no doubt on all conference watch lists next year. I cannot wait to see Becker and Marsh, with Morris in the slot and IU able to rotate in Chandler, Preston and Lebron Bond. That’s six legit dudes in the WR room…Exciting.
Just for clarity, opposite Jamari Sharpe, the CB battle with AJ Harris and Ryland Gandy got no clearer as both were out with minor injuries.
Running Backs
With Lee Beebe out, but dressed and going through warmups while still recovering from the ACL injury that happened early last season, the top two backs were no doubt Turbo Richard (8 carries for 39 yards) and Khobie Martin (7 carries for 25 yards and a TD).
It was quite amusing to watch OC Mike Shanahan go back to what he did to every team last year to open up the pass game for Josh Hoover and co.: bludgeon his own defense with the run game. We’ve seen Martin, but it was good to see Richard make some nice jump cuts. He’s tough to bring down and runs low to the ground. He, Beebe and Martin will be fun to watch next season.
Also wanted to shout out Jayreon Campbell. The 5’8, 205 true freshman from Georgia had just 2 carries for 0 yards, but he ran hard with the backups. Good to see.
Tight End
The biggest question on the team, at least for me, is the TE room. IU had some injuries (presumed starter and Miami transfer Brock Schott was out) so the entire game fell on two redshirt freshmen in Andrew Barker (1 catch for 11 yards) and Blake Thiry (1 catch for 5 yards).
Barker had a drop but also had a nice release on an out where he juked out a defender to get a first down and Thiry made a nice toe tap on the sidelines in the two-minute drill to get out of bounds.
It’s early, but you can see the talent, even if it is still young talent. I’m excited to see Schott join this group. He was dressed but I’m not sure he played.
Offensive Line
I had the starting OL, from left to right, as Adedamola Ajani, Sam Simpson, Drew Evans, Austin Leibfried, and Joe Brunner, with the injuries to Bray Lynch and Carter Smith. I was a little surprised to not see Baylor Wilkin out there at OT and Simpson starting, but…it’s a glorified practice and they’re trying to build confidence and depth.
Quarterback Youth
I wanted to give redshirt freshmen QB Jacob Bell and Tyler Cherry their own spot. I was impressed. Bell led a successful two-minute drive for a field goal for the offense and finished 4/6 for 49 yards. You can see the arm talent. There is a long way to go for him, but at 6’2, 209 already, I’m excited to see him continue to grow.
Cherry looked big…We know he’s 6’5, 220, but he looked put together in the normal high look from Memorial Stadium. Another guy with impressive arm strength who is still coming back from a bad knee injury.
Successful night for both of them and the depth is starting to be built.
Defensive Line
It’s a lot harder to tell without defensive stats, and while I was yapping away on Twitter talking about what I was seeing, I’m just going to list some guys who popped.
DE Tobi Osunsanmi is going to be a problem in the B1G. He looked fast and was making the younger OL’s look silly. I had him with one sack and a hurry in his limited time but that could be wrong because they were just two hand touching the QB.
The play where he had the sack, he had moved inside with fellow Kansas State transfer, massive 6’5, 279 DE Chiddi Obiazor playing end, giving Osunsanmi a 1 on 1 with true freshman iOL Sam Simpson on the inside. Just for clarity, DE Joshua Burnham was out as well.
Picking up where he left off *playing* during the playoff run, redshirt freshman Tyrone Burrus Jr. looked good replacing Burnham as the backup at DE.
The ability for this defense to play multiple ways up front for DC Bryant Haines was already evident minutes into the Spring Game and I cannot wait to see it this fall against actual live competition.
Speaking of the DL, Mario Landino and Tyrique Tucker looked nearly unblockable as well. Water is wet.
Other Notes
CB Jamari Sharpe had a big, shoulder-to-shoulder hit on a nice catch by Tyler Morris that had me yelling at the screen, “NOOOOO”. Everyone seemed fine but, but like, Jamari…we know you’re legit, no need to lay the wood on a guy just getting back. Sharpe looked good, though.
Two freshman that flashed to me were CB Kasmir Hicks and S Jamar Owens. Both are well down the depth chart but Hicks made a nice read on a ball and dropped a pick. But being in the right spot when you’ve only been on campus for a couple of months was more exciting to me. Owens is really thin but you can see why he had a ton of offers out of high school in Georgia.
All in all, it was clear that he defense was much further ahead of the offense and I even put a tweet out saying that much on Wednesday night. I think there is a marked difference if Carter Smith and Bray Lynch are out there and the rest of the OL are at their natural positions. But this defense is going to be a lot of fun.
There was no punting but the kicking was really good (even if one of the operations didn’t go well and had to be redone…they’ll get that fixed up).
K Nico Radicic hit from 50 with ease. Just to remind people, his career long is 46, but he’s also missed just 2 kicks on nearly 200 in his IU career. If he can push his range, look out.
But the kicker that really stuck out was Troy transfer, and Ireland native, Paddy McAteer. McAteer drilled a 56-yarder that honestly might have been good from more than 65…it went through well up the uprights and was caught well behind the goal posts.
Looks like IU’s kicking game will once again be a huge weapon.
What a fun night, and to see 22,000 people in the stands on a *Thursday* was terrific. Great atmosphere and they celebrated loudly when Fernando went #1. When can we do this again? Not for 4 months! Noooooo!
We’ll have a lot more as spring rolls into summer.