By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the 15th time in Indiana University Football History the Indiana Hoosiers will play on a Friday Night as the Northwestern Wildcats will come to Bloomington to face the #5 and defending National Champions Indiana Hoosiers on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium at 8 PM with the game Televised on FOX.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hoosiers are 9-5 on Friday Nights, and this is the fifth consecutive season the Hoosiers have played on a Friday Night. Indiana has not lost Friday Night game in the Regular Season of the Curt Cignetti Era. The Hoosiers beat Western Illinois 77-3 on September 6, 2024, Indiana State 73-0 on September 12, 2025, and at Purdue on November 28, 2025, 56-3 to finish the 2025 Regular Season 12-0 for the first time in program history. The Hoosiers beat Oregon in the College Football Semifinals at the Peach Bowl 56-22 on January 9, 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indiana did fall at Notre Dame 27-17 on December 20, 2024, in the College Football Playoff First Round in South Bend but since that Friday Night loss the Hoosiers have won 19 games in a row which is the longest current winning streak in the FBS. Indiana is 17-1 in Big Ten Play Under Curt Cignetti and 9-0 at home as the Hoosiers are 18-0 at home since Cignetti arrived in Bloomington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curt Cignetti is 30-2 since taking over the Hoosiers and is the third coach in Power 4 History to reach 30 wins in his first 32 games. Only Larry Coker of Miami (Florida) from 2001-03 and Gil Dobie of Washington from 1908-12 did it faster both in 31 games. Cignetti became the 8th coach in Indiana Football to reach 30 wins and if he wins on Friday will be tied with John Pont for 7th place on the all-time wins list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Pont coached 8 seasons at IU from 1965-1972 and finish with a record of 31-51-1 and 21-36-1 in the Big Ten. Pont was the first coach to take the Hoosiers to the Rose Bowl on New Years Day 1968 losing to USC 14-3. Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers returned to the Rose Bowl on New Years Day 2026 beating Alabama 38-3 in the Quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1967 Indiana finished 6-1 in Big Ten Play in a three-way tie for first with Purdue and Minnesota. The Hoosiers lost at Minnesota 33-7 and beat Purdue 19-14 and after the Hoosiers beat the Boilermakers at home on November 25, 1967, Indiana was voted to the Rose Bowl and finished that season with a 9-2 record. Pont had 2 winning seasons at Indiana finishing 6-4 in 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pont was the Head Coach at Northwestern from 1973-77 and was 12-43 overall with a 10-31 Big Ten Record. Pont Coached at Miami (Ohio), Yale, Indiana, Northwestern and Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati finishing with an overall record of 107-141-4 and passed away on July 1, 2008, at age 80.
Indiana comes into Big Ten play with a 3-0 record as the Hoosiers beat North Texas 52-16, Howard 55-0 and Western Kentucky 38-0 all at home as Friday Night’s game will end a four game homestand for the Hoosiers going on the road for back-to-back games at Rutgers and Nebraska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the first time since 1993 that Hoosiers have posted back-to-back shutouts when Indiana beat Northwestern 24-0 in Evanston and Michigan State 10-0 and just the third time since 1958 when Phil Dickens Coached the Hoosiers to a 6-0 win over Minnesota on November 1, and 6-0 win over Michigan State on November 8, both in Bloomington. Indiana has posted four shutouts in the Curt Cignetti Era. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hoosiers racked up 513 total yards against the Hilltoppers last week and it’s the 13th in the Curt Cignetti Era that the Hoosiers have had 500 or more yards in total offense. Indiana had 3 rushing touchdowns against Western Kentucky marking the 26th time in 32 games under Cignetti that Indiana has multi-rushing touchdown games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indiana won the time of possession battle for the 23rd time in 32 games under Coach Cignetti. Josh Hoover threw for 2 touchdown passes and the TCU Transfer has completed 37 of his 51 passes for 649 Yards throwing 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions while being sacked 3 times. Hoover has come in and done a great job so far, but when Head Coach Curt Cignetti met with the media on Monday during his weekly press conference, he thinks his quarterback is getting too much criticism so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think there is too much scrutiny on Josh Hoover right now,\u201d Cignetti said \u201cUnfair scrutiny. After watching the game tape, he missed one throw (against Western Kentucky).\u201d After completing just 4 of 9 passes during a stretch of Saturday\u2019s 38-0 win over the Hilltoppers, Hoover had a portion of the fan base in a panic. Four of his five incompletions in that span came on third or fourth down and contributed to IU\u2019s sluggish offensive start to the game. But after watching the tape, Cignetti saw others who should shoulder some of the blame for those incompletions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are the levels of analysis often missed by fans and the media alike. \u201cThe one he missed to (Charlie) Becker we did a bad job picking up the blitz at running back and he had a guy in his face,\u201d Cignetti said. \u201cOne he overthrew early, missed (Nick) Marsh. \u201cThe one to the right, it was the third progression. Didn\u2019t run a good route to the field. Should have been open but wasn\u2019t because of the route. Came back to No. 3, who didn\u2019t run a great route either and the ball got overthrown. \u201cAnd the only other one would\u2019ve been the one to Marsh maybe down the sideline, but really that read there should\u2019ve taken him to the field, which was open.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hoover spent the better part of his postgame press conference discussing his six missed throws on a day when he completed 18. \u201cI know I can make those throws, and I\u2019ll be better,\u201d Hoover said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to be better for our team on third down and some of those situations.\u201d Part of playing any position at Indiana is the constant pursuit of improvement and never being satisfied. So of course, Hoover is correct to say he has to be better. But it\u2019s also appropriate to point out the reality \u2014 Hoover has been pretty darn good thus far. How good? It\u2019s been a near carbon copy of Fernando Mendoza\u2019s first three games a year ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through the first three games a year ago, Mendoza had completed 72.4% of his throws for 708 yards with nine TDs and no INTs. It was the Big Ten opener against Illinois a year ago that Mendoza truly broke out and put the nation on notice. So, in that sense, we haven\u2019t even hit the point where we know all that much about Hoover. But Curt Cignetti knows one thing. \u201cI\u2019m glad he\u2019s, our quarterback.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Northwestern leads the all-time series between the conference foes, 47-36-1, but Indiana has won the previous two meetings, including a 41-24 victory in Evanston in 2024 and this is the first time since 2019 that the Wildcats have been to Bloomington. Linebacker Isaiah Jones spoke with the Media Tuesday Evening and agrees with Coach Cignetti on how much the crowd plays a factor into the games. “The crowd is loud. For an offense, it’s hard for them to check, it’s hard for them to audible, when you’re playing with all these fans yelling and getting loud on third down. It’s like the 12th defender. I think Coach Cig said something about it being like a seven-point, 14-point swing. When you have an atmosphere like that, it’s hard for the other team to communicate. You get a little rattled. Maybe the bright lights get a little bit too bright. And for us, we just feel comfortable with that. We feel comfortable with our fans, and we embrace having them there. ” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wildcats come to Bloomington with a 2-0 record with home wins over South Dakota State 34-18 and Colorado 41-7. Quarterback Adian Chiles who played the last two seasons at Michigan State along with Indiana Wide Receiver Nick Marsh has completed 31 of his 46 passes for 514 yards 4 touchdowns and no interceptions while being sacked three times. When asked on Tuesday Night about facing Chiles as Northwestern Wildcat instead of a Michigan State Spartan Isaiah Jones said “They’ve got a lot of athletes, and they do a good job of getting their athletes the ball, whether it’s the running backs, the tight ends, the receivers, the quarterback on runs. They’re a good football team, well coached. We’re excited to open Big Ten play with them here on Friday.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Wildcats have run the ball 82 times for 406 yards and 5 touchdowns with Chiles scoring three of them. Gavin Sawchuck leads the rushing attack with 117 yards but has not found the end zone and Joseph Himon II has 8 carries for 115 yards and a touchdown. Gavin Wilde has 8 catches for 189 yards. Defensive Back Robert Fitzgearld leads the Wildcats with 25 tackles and a fumble recovery. The Wildcats have 3 defensive interceptions, 3 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Northwestern Head Coach David Braun is in fourth season in charge of the Wildcats and has a record of 21-19 and a Big Ten Record of 11-16 with 2 Bowl Wins. Braun began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Winona State University, his alma mater, in 2008. In 2010 he was made the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Culver-Stockton. In 2011 he returned to Winona State where he worked as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach until the end of the 2014 season. In 2015 he became the defensive line coach at UC Davis where he stayed until the end of the 2016 season. In 2017 he was made the defensive line coach and run game coordinator at Northern Iowa. In 2018 he was made the outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. He was named the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at North Dakota State University in January 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Braun was hired by head coach Pat Fitzgerald as defensive coordinator at Northwestern in January 2023.After Fitzgerald was fired amid allegations of widespread hazing within the football program, Braun was named Northwestern’s interim head coach. The week after Northwestern broke its 14-game road losing streak by defeating Wisconsin, Braun was made Northwestern’s permanent head coach. Northwestern finished the regular season with a 7\u20135 record\u2014the most wins for any first-year Northwestern football coach since 1903\u2014and qualified for a Bowl game for the first time since 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Braun was named the 2023 Big Ten Coach of the Year for his turnaround of the program. He led his team to a victory with the Wildcats at the Las Vegas Bowl\u2014against the Utah Utes\u2014on December 23, 2023. Braun is the first Northwestern head coach to lead a team to a bowl in his opening season. Braun and the Wildcats struggled in his first full season as Head Coach in 2024 finishing 4-8. After dropping the 2025 season opener at Tulane, Braun\u2019s Wildcats won 5 of their following 6 contests. On Sept. 27th, Northwestern beat UCLA for its first conference win of the season. Braun\u2019s Wildcats upset preseason Big Ten favorite Penn State 22-21 on Oct. 21st, marking the final game of James Franklin\u2019s tenure at PSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indiana Wide Receiver Charlie Becker spoke with the Media Tuesday Night and is pumped for Friday Night Lights as he has gotten to experience it at the college level a few times. “I love Friday Night Lights. It really takes me back to high school and the atmosphere. Hoosier Nation has the best fans in the world, and I know they’re all going to show up and show out. It’s like you know to stay for the whole game, so I’m really pumped to see that.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indiana completely sold out the 2026 football season. The reported attendance for Last Saturday\u2019s win over Western Kentucky was 54,695, and that preceded 54,376 for Howard, and 54,493 for North Texas. Those are all new entries in the all-time top 10 for crowd size at Memorial Stadium, and all roughly 2,000 over capacity. But you wouldn\u2019t know it if you only watched the second halves of the games to this point. Baking in miserable heat while watching mismatches on the field, a significant portion of the fans left those games at halftime or at some point in the second half. IU coach Curt Cignetti built the program to this previously incomprehensible level. He\u2019s the primary reason nonconference games where IU is favored by north of 40 points are selling out. He built it, and they came.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But they\u2019re also leaving too soon, he says. Cignetti is showing some compassion. He\u2019s giving fans a pass for their retreat to the tailgate or air conditioning over the first three weeks. After all the crowd hasn\u2019t been needed as the Hoosiers outscored their first three opponents 145-16. But starting Friday night as Big Ten play begins, the head coach wants to see the fans stay for the full 60 minutes. \u201cWe need to have a great crowd that stays the whole game,\u201d Cignetti said on Monday. \u201cWe played our three sauna games in the afternoon. I can understand having to leave in the second half, particularly when the game is out of hand and it\u2019s 152 on the turf. It\u2019s hard to coach in these games, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut this will be low 70 weather this week and it will be a nice cool football kind of night in Bloomington, and we need to have a great crowd.\u201d This isn\u2019t the first time Cignetti has challenged the home crowd. In 2024 he famously implored the student section to \u201cstudy later\u201d ahead of the Maryland game to open home Big Ten play \u2014 and they delivered. The second-largest home crowd ever attended the 2025 Big Ten opener against Illinois a year ago. And Indiana fans became a major factor in the 2025 national title run, delivering significant advantages at the Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl, and even outnumbering Miami at its home stadium in the championship game. Seven of the top-10 largest crowds in Memorial Stadium history have come in the last two calendar years. But Cignetti is more interested in fourth quarter attendance as the competition stiffens. Fans will want to bring a sweatshirt on Friday. The forecasted high temperature is currently 72 degrees with no rain and light wind. But temperatures could dip into the 50s by the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director For the 15th time in Indiana University Football History the Indiana Hoosiers will play on a Friday Night as the Northwestern Wildcats will come to Bloomington to face the #5 and defending National Champions Indiana Hoosiers on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium at 8 PM with the game Televised …<\/p>\n