What: No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers (1-0) vs. Howard Bison (1-1)
When: Saturday, September 12 at Noon
Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN
How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on BTN and can be heard on the IU Radio Network.
Spread and Total: Indiana -55.5 | Total of 64.5
Series History: This is the first matchup between the Indiana Hoosiers and Howard Bison.
What’s at Stake: The Indiana Hoosiers are looking to improve to 2-0 and trying to notch their 18th win in a row. Curt Cignetti still has not lost at home as the head coach for the Indiana Hoosiers. IU will be focused on cleaning up some of the issues that were seen in Week One while continuing to fine tune for the upcoming Big Ten slate. For reference, Howard’s recent attempts against FBS foes are as follows:
2025 – at Temple was a 55-7 loss
2024 – at Rutgers was a 44-7 loss
2023 – at Eastern Michigan was a 33-23 defeat
2023 – at Northwestern was a 23-20 defeat
A FEW THINGS TO LOOK FOR
Cleaning Up the Run Defense
The heat during the season opener was stifling and the Indiana Hoosiers were keeping their defense very vanilla but it must be pointed out that North Texas had more success on offense than expected. The Mean Green were able to stay on the field by converting 6-15 third downs and they hammered away for four yards per carry on 38 rushing attempts. Jaheim White, Tayven Jackson and the UNT offensive line deserve credit but Indiana’s vaunted defensive front only managed one sack and a run stuff rate of just 3%. Curt Cignetti mentioned that a lot of defensive miscues needed cleaned up so you’d like to see some progression in those areas on Saturday. Howard has an athletic quarterback in Ja’Shawn Scroggins and they ran for 114 yards against Alabama A&M and 131 against Richmond. The Bison have some guys capable of getting things done but if the Bison find success consistently on the ground, that will be a major red flag moving forward.
Building on Offensive Success
While the defense was merely okay against North Texas, Josh Hoover and IU’s offense was razor sharp. Hoover was terrific against the Mean Green, completing 13 of 16 passes for 231 yards (14.4 yards per completion!) with four touchdowns. Just as importantly, the ball was never in danger and the TCU transfer looked in complete control of the offense. Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh both had touchdowns (Becker with two), Turbo Richard caught a wheel route for 38 yards and Davion Chandler had 42-yard touchdown reception. The passing game was impressively in-sync but the rushing attack was uneven. While a late 43-yard rushing score by backup quarterback Grant Wilson buoyed the numbers, Turbo Richard averaged only 3.9 yards per carry and Lee Beebe had only 2.4 yards per carry. Granted, Beebe’s numbers look substantially better if a long touchdown run is not called off by a suspect holding penalty called on Bray Lynch but improving the running game is probably a goal in week two. Khobie Martin is out until the middle of the season with a broken forearm so it will be interesting to see how Jayreon Campbell and Sean Cuono look against Howard as Curt Cignetti tries to figure out the running back rotation after the injury to Martin.
Avoiding Further Injury
By the end of the first half, Indiana was without both starting cornerbacks and running back Khobie Martin. While Curt Cignetti was quick to calm fears about the severity of the injuries to AJ Harris and Jamari Sharpe, it goes without saying that the Hoosiers could really use a game without any further major injuries. Playing a clean and efficient first half, getting an improved performance from the defense and running game, building a big lead and then working on building depth throughout the second half are the goals for IU as they welcome the Howard Bison to Bloomington.
Discover more from Hoosier Huddle
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.