Over Indiana football’s 139-year history, the Hoosiers have had 29 head coaches. Not one of them began their tenure 4-0.
Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers’ 30th head coach, has the opportunity to become the first to do so.
After a dominant 42-13 beatdown of UCLA on Sept. 14 inside the Rose Bowl Stadium, the Hoosiers return to Bloomington to take on the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Kickoff is slated for noon Saturday inside Memorial Stadium.
The 49ers (1-2) enter the contest starting their third-string quarterback in redshirt junior Trexler Ivey.
Charlotte’s Week 1 starting quarterback, redshirt sophomore Max Brown, injured his hand against the University of North Carolina on Sept. 7. When the 49ers faced off against Gardner-Webb University on Sept. 14, freshman Deshawn Purdie started in Brown’s place. He too was injured, going down with an apparent leg injury.
In relief of Purdie, Ivey went 11-of-12 for 142 yards and two touchdowns to guide the 49ers to a 27-26 victory over the Bulldogs. In 2023, Ivey started five games and played 11 total games.
“So maybe the (Purdie) has a little bit of a liver arm and his mobility might be a little more, but (Ivey) has got the experience, kind of the moxie, understands how to play,” Cignetti said Monday.
Indiana’s quarterback situation is the polar opposite. It has a solidified one in sixth-year senior Kurtis Rourke.
The Oakville, Ontario, Canada, native won Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after he went 25-of-33 for 307 yards and four touchdowns against UCLA.
“I thought he played really well and did a really nice job with his eyes and was accurate,” Cignetti said Monday. “We did a great job protecting. We had no sacks. And, you know, receivers did a nice job of separating and made some really good catches too.”
With Rourke leading the Hoosiers, they’ll look to stay undefeated and finish non-conference play with a 3-0 record before beginning full Big-Ten play Sept. 28 against Maryland.
One of, if not the most important change Cignetti implemented in the offseason was removing complacency.
So, after the Hoosiers’ 29-point blowout victory, they know they can’t be satisfied with the result. Cignetti tells them not to.
“(He is) telling us not to be complacent,” senior wide receiver Miles Cross said Tuesday. “Just taking every play, every practice, one play at a time and just getting better every single day and just not letting complacency leak into the program.”
Indiana has done just that it seems: getting better every game.
And while the win over UCLA opened eyes around the nation and energized the Hoosier faithful, it doesn’t mean much if the Hoosiers don’t back it up.
Their first opportunity to do so is Saturday, and then each following game.
What to know for Saturday
Cignetti said Thursday during the Inside IU Football radio show that West will no longer be suspended for the first half Saturday. The Big Ten submitted the targeting call to the national coordinator of football officials, and they rescinded the ban.
West totaled four total tackles over the Hoosiers’ first three games, albeit only playing in two and a half after being ejected on the first play of the second half against UCLA. He also forced a fumble against Florida International University on Aug. 31.
Cignetti said that he thinks West is a player that will “keep getting better and better,” as the season continues.
The last time Indiana began its season 4-0 was during the 2020 season. That season, though, it fell in its fifth game of the season to Ohio State.
With a win Saturday, the Hoosiers would match that 4-0 start, but they’ve said they’re taking it one game at a time with everyone sharing a common goal: win.
Kickoff is slated for noon against Charlotte inside Memorial Stadium. The matchup will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
