By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0 The reigning National Champion Indiana Hoosiers ended their spring football practice period with the annual spring game Thursday Night before a nice crowd on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium. It was first time since winning the National Championship in January 19, in Miami that Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers have played in front of a crowd. The last time fans were in the stadium was when Indiana celebrated its perfect season on January 24, in below freezing temperatures during the afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The weather for the spring game was perfect with temperatures in the 70\u2019s and sunshine. Fans enjoyed getting to Tailgate and seeing all the trophies that the Hoosiers collected during their historic season including the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy that fans could get their picture taken with as it was the last stop of the Trophy Tour that started in Bloomington and went around to each IU Satellite Campuses before coming back to Bloomington for the final stop of the tour. Defensive Coordinator Bryant Haines was presented with the Broyles Award as the nation\u2019s top assistant coach in between the two quarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The game took place at the same time as the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the crowd turned to the big screen to see Heisman Trophy Winner Fernando Mendoza selected as the Number 1 Overall Draft Pick selected by the Las Vegas Raiders. It\u2019s the first time since Fullback Corbett Davis was selected number 1 overall in the 1938 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Rams. The Hoosiers made history when Wide Receiver Omar Cooper Jr. was taken 30th<\/sup> overall by the New York Jets making it the first time in program history Indiana has had two first round picks in the same draft. The Hoosiers are expecting several players to hear their names called during the three-day draft that continues tomorrow with the second and third rounds and ends on Saturday with rounds four through seven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Spring Game featured two 15-minute quarters, and this was the first time all spring the players have gotten to tackle each other except for the quarterback who was wearing the black jerseys as Curt Cignetti does not want to get anyone injured. The teams were offense, which was the crimson team wearing red and the cream which was the defense wearing white. The scoring format was the same as it had been since Curt Cignetti arrived in Bloomington. 6 points for a touchdown, 1 for an extra point, 3 for a field goal, 4 for a turnover gained, 3 for defensive stop\/punt forced and 2 for safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Offense won the game 26-16 as there were nine series in the game. TCU Transfer Josh Hoover started the game with a 13-yard pass to Michigan State Transfer Nick Marsh, but his next two passes were incomplete and then he was touched by Mario Landino a loss and the Defense led 3-0. That was short lived as Grant Wilson ran the next series as he found Tyler Morris who outran the defense 70 yards for a touchdown to make it 7-3. Boston College Transfer Turbo Richard made his Indiana debut with 17 yard run as he carried the ball three straight times for 20 yards but was brought down for a one-yard loss by Byron Baldwin Jr. The Defense scored another three points as Hoover threw an incompletion to make it 7-6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0\u00a0The defense took the lead for the second time when they stopped the offense in the fourth series to lead 9-7. Khobie Martin and Richard ran the ball a combined nine times on the fifth offensive series as Hoover had 14-play drive that was capped off by a Nicolas Radicic field goal from 25 yards out to make it 10-9 offense. Tyler Cherry, who was injured last season, started the sixth and seventh series as Khobie Martin scored 4-yard touchdown run to make it 17-10. Radicic drilled a 58-yard field goal in the seventh drive to make it 20-13 offense. The Offense hit two more field goals in the eighth and ninth series of the game to score 26 points and the defense got three points on both series for defensive stops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hoosiers had several players out due to injury including Offensive Tackle Carter Smith and Wide Receiver Charlie Becker as Head Coach Curt Cignetti was happy with the fact there were no major injuries during the 30-minute game. One thing Coach Cignetti will not be happy with is there were three penalties called two on the defense for 25 yards with a pass interference and holding and 5-yard false start on the offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cignetti spoke with the Media after the game and said, \u201cWe got done what we wanted tonight\u201d and was happy with crowd and getting to see his quarterback selected number 1 overall in the NFL Draft. Now Josh Hoover steps in to follow up what Kurtis Rourke and Mendoza have accomplished in Cignetti\u2019s first two seasons. Hoover was committed to Indiana once before under then Head Coach Tom Allen and changed his mind going to TCU now it\u2019s a full circle moment as he is an Indiana Hoosier and now follows in the footsteps of Fernando Mendoza and Cignetti said, \u201cHe embraced that challenge when he made the decision to come here.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Indiana will open the 2026 season on September 5, against North Texas which will be Band Day follow by Howard on September 12, for Youth Sports Day. Western Kentucky is Family Weekend September 19, Northwestern will be in Bloomington on September 26, as Indiana has 8 home games in 2026. The Hoosiers take their first road trip to Rutgers on October 3, followed by Nebraska October 10. The Hoosiers host Ohio State in a rematch of the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game on October 17 and that is a \u201cRed Out.\u201d The Hoosiers head to Michigan on October 24, and host Minnesota for homecoming on October 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 USC comes to Bloomington on November 14 for Salute to Service Day before the Hoosiers head to the Pacific Northwest to face the Washington Huskies November 21 and come back to Bloomington on November 28 for the Old Oaken Bucket game against Purdue. The Hoosiers are 27-2 under Curt Cignetti in two seasons and have not lost a home game since he arrived as the Hoosiers begin their quest for back-to-back National Titles and a spot in the College Football Playoff for the third year in a row.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director \u00a0\u00a0 The reigning National Champion Indiana Hoosiers ended their spring football practice period with the annual spring game Thursday Night before a nice crowd on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium. It was first time since winning the National Championship in January 19, in Miami that Curt Cignetti and the …<\/p>\n