BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football doesn’t want to be the Big Ten’s doormat this season.
The Hoosiers hired coach Curt Cignetti in hopes of turning around a program that won just nine games over the last three seasons. Cignetti exceeded that total at James Madison last season and didn’t even coach the team in the Armed Forces Bowl.
The team’s easy schedule should help him deliver on the quick-turnaround he promised. Indiana plays eight home games in 2024 and has one of the easiest non-conference schedules in the country.
Let’s take a look at the schedule in greater depth, ranking the opponents from easiest to toughest:
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Western Illinois has been one of the worst FCS teams in the country going back to the 2019 season. The program has won just four games during that stretch and went 0-11 (0-8 Missouri Valley Conference) in 2023 for a second straight year.
Last year, they lost by an average of 33.7 points and only played one game decided by single digits.
The Leathernecks had the worst offense in the FCS out of 122 teams (231.5 yards per game) and the worst defense (477.9 yards allowed). They allowed 10 more touchdowns than any team in the country.
Western Illinois parted ways with coach Myers Hendrickson and hired Joe Davis, the former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Eastern Illinois. Davis has a history of success, but he’s going to need time to make the program competitive.
Bottom line: Indiana will have an overwhelming talent advantage that should allow the new staff an opportunity to get playing time for much of the roster.
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FIU is entering a pivotal season under coach Mike MacIntyre after going 4-8 in each of his first two seasons at the helm.
The Panthers went through some growing pains after handing the keys to the offense to true freshman Keyone Jenkins. They averaged 20.1 points and 319.6 yards per game, but the dual-threat quarterback should look a bit more polished this fall in Bloomington thanks to the experience (11 starts) he got that included a visit to Arkansas.
While Jenkins gives MacIntyre a nice building block, FIU lost some key talent to Power Four programs including receiver Kris Mitchell (Notre Dame), offensive tackle Phillip Houston (Colorado) and defensive lineman Jordan Guerad (Louisville). Mitchell finished No. 19 in the country with 1,118 receiving yards (17.5 yards per catch) last season.
The Panthers should still have a passable offense, but their defensive outlook isn’t as rosy. They gave up 31.8 points (ranked No. 109 in the FBS) and 436.7 yards (No. 122) while struggling to create negative plays.
They only forced 12 turnovers (ranked No. 118) and had 17 sacks (No. 124).
Bottom line: How long will it take Indiana to find its footing? The Hoosiers are heavy favorites, but it might not be the prettiest of wins considering they might only tackle to the ground in practice only once throughout the entire offseason. They might need some time to build some chemistry as well.
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Charlotte coach Biff Poggi was even more aggressive than Curt Cignetti last season in turning over a roster he referred to as the “Island of Misfit Toys.” Things didn’t quite click — the 49ers only one two games against FBS opponents (East Carolina and Tulsa) and were one of only 15 teams to average less than 20 points.
The second-year coach brought in a whole new group of transfers for 2024 including Florida quarterback Max Brown, who he hopes can transform a passing offense that ranked No. 119 out of 133 teams in the FBS last season (167.8 yards per game).
Brown’s lone career start came last season against Florida State. He threw for 192 yards (67.9%) with one interception and he ran the ball 23 times for 37 yards.
Poggi signed some other interesting pieces including former Michigan running back CJ Stokes, edge rushers Chantz Williams (Miami) and Stephen Sings (Auburn) and Colorado corner Adam Hopkins.
Bottom line: Charlotte jumped out to a 14-0 lead over Maryland in Week 2 last year before falling 38-20. The 49ers were also competitive in losses to Memphis, SMU and Florida. Indiana will be the more talented, but it’s easy to imagine the Hoosiers being a bit worn down coming off a rare trip out to the West Coast and this being a close game deep into the second half.
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Indiana folded last season in West Lafayette.
Purdue erased a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter in what turned out to be Tom Allen’s final game. Indiana had the slightly better team, but couldn’t overcome going 1 of 11 on third down and Brendan Sorsby’s three interceptions.
The Hoosiers might have widened the talent gap in their favor during the offseason. Purdue was active in the transfer portal, but took a major blow when it lost linebacker Nic Scourton (Texas A&M) and receiver Deion Burks (Oklahoma).
Scourton was one of the best pass rushers in the country — he had the third best pass-rush win rate (21.2%) in the country and one of only 17 players with double-digit sacks — while Reid was the Boilermakers leading receivers last year with 47 catches for 629 yards and seven touchdowns.
They lost all three of their top receivers from 2023 with TJ Sheffield graduating and Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen (USF) transferring as well. Those departures might force them to rely more on returning running back Devin Mockobee even though Hudson Card is back at quarterback.
Bottom line: Indiana’s three-game losing streak to its in-state rival should come to an end in November.
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Northwestern’s 7-6 record in 2023 was one of last season’s biggest surprises in the wake of a hazing scandal that cost Pat Fiztgerald his job just two weeks before the start of fall camp. The Wildcats closed out the year with four straight wins including a victory over Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Then interim coach David Braun landed the full-time gig amidst that impressive win streak.
Northwestern has a much harder schedule this season and will face a different kind of adversity having to play most of their games at a practice field on campus turned temporary stadium with a capacity of just 15,000, but the biggest hurdle might be the Wildcats’ quarterback situation.
Brendan Sullivan, who was expected to be Ben Bryant’s successor, ended up entering the transfer portal after the team wrapped up spring camp. The decision left Northwestern with sixth-year quarterback Ryan Hilinski along with a pair of inexperienced options (Jack Lausch and Aidan Gray).
The Wildcats added former Mississippi State and Vanderbilt quarterback Mike Wright to the mix, but they go into fall camp facing plenty of uncertainty at the position.
Bottom line: Northwestern wasn’t all that imposing on offense last season — the Wildcats averaged 22.1 points (No. 106) and 303.9 yards per game (No. 124) — and if they take a step back it will be hard for them to replicate the success they had.
UCLA enters the Big Ten in what looks to be a rebuilding year under first-year head coach DeShaun Foster. The Bruins opted for an internal hire in Foster, the team’s long-time running backs coach, after Chip Kelly unexpectedly departed the program in February after national signing day.
Kelly was 35-34 (26-26 Pac-12) in six seasons, but had taken UCLA to three straight bowl games.
While Foster inherited an offense in pretty good shape, UCLA lost the core group of a defense — defensive ends Laiatu Latu and Gabriel Murphy along with linebacker Darius Muasau are in the NFL — that held opposing teams to 18.4 points (No. 14 in the FBS) and 301.5 yards per game (No. 10).
They also lost a pair of key starters (corner John Humphrey and safety Kamari Ramsey) in the secondary to the transfer portal.
Bottom line: A win in Pasadena would set Indiana up well to reach bowl eligibility, but it will be just as much a must-win for UCLA. After facing IU, the Bruins have a brutal three game stretch with games LSU (away), Oregon (home) and Penn State (away). Cignetti’s edge in coaching experience over Foster could be the difference.
Check back with The Herald-Times on Monday for Part 2.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
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