IU football notebook: Hoosiers open as 55.5-point favorite against Howard
- Alex Bozich
- 1h ago
IU football made easy work of its Week 1 opponent, North Texas, on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium.
The Hoosiers cruised to a 52-16 win in front of a sold-out crowd as Josh Hoover threw four touchdown passes.
The oddsmakers are expecting an even more lopsided outcome for Indiana in Week 2.
Indiana hosts Howard, an FCS opponent, this Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on BTN. FanDuel opened the Hoosiers as a 55.5-point favorite against the Bison.
Howard is 1-1 with a win against Alabama A&M on August 29 and a loss to Richmond on September 5.
Saturday’s matchup against the Bison should bring a much more pleasant temperature after a scorching hot afternoon last weekend for the season opener.
Curt Cignetti said Monday that the temperature on the turf during the North Texas game reached 152 degrees.
The current forecast for Saturday in Bloomington shows a high of 84 degrees, with a peak feels-like temperature of 92, according to AccuWeather.
Hoosiers hold steady at No. 6 in AP and coaches’ polls
As expected, the Hoosiers held steady at No. 6 in the Associated Press and coaches’ top 25 polls following Saturday’s win against the Mean Green in Bloomington.
Indiana again received eight votes at No. 1 in the AP poll and 14 votes at No. 1 in the coaches’ poll.
The top five teams in both polls remained the same.
In the AP poll, Ohio State is No. 1, followed by Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas.
In the coaches’ poll, the Buckeyes are No. 1, followed by Oregon, Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame.
Cignetti provides injury updates at weekly press conference
At his weekly press conference on Monday afternoon in Bloomington, Cignetti provided a few notable injury updates.
Running back Khobie Martin is expected to be out until midseason, according to Cignetti.
In the secondary, Jamari Sharpe and A.J. Harris are considered day-to-day and are not expected to miss extended time.
Tight end Trevor Gibbs, who was unavailable in Week 1, “might return” this week, per Cignetti. Defensive lineman Blake Smythe, who also missed the opener against North Texas, is also close to returning.
Cignetti assesses Hoover’s performance in Week 1
Hoover finished his debut for the Hoosiers with 231 passing yards and four touchdowns. The transfer from TCU completed 13 of his 16 passing attempts.
Cignetti was asked for his assessment of Hoover’s performance on Monday after reviewing film from the North Texas game.
The third-year IU coach had strong praise for Hoover’s debut while also leaving room for improvement for his quarterback.
“I thought obviously it was a good start. Four touchdown passes, great catch by (Nick) Marsh on the first one,” Cignetti said. “He made some nice throws, some good decisions. He got away with one that he’s not gonna get away with in Big Ten play. And the one long touchdown to Charlie (Becker), he’s got to step into that throw better and get it out there and get it up and down.
“The one he got his helmet ripped off, he flipped the protection and really shouldn’t have. So he became unprotected to the side of the blitz. But then he responded and threw a touchdown pass shortly thereafter. But even then, a hair late and made a little tougher catch for Charlie than it needed to be. Great catch by Charlie. He played well. There’s no question about it. It was a good start.”
Looking ahead to Howard
There was little discussion of Howard in Cignetti’s press conference on Monday, which shouldn’t surprise anyone given the talent disparity and the expected outcome.
The Bison beat Alabama A&M 31-24 in their opener in Atlanta before falling 28-21 to Richmond in Washington, D.C.
Howard is led by quarterback Ja’Shawn Scroggins, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior.
“He’s their leading rusher, and obviously the quarterback, too,” Cignetti said on Monday. “He’s a really good athlete. They’ve got good team speed. I mean, they’ve got skill. Even on defense, they’ve got quickness and speed. So the quarterback, he’s played a lot for them and he’s a dual guy.”
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