⚡ CFB Dashboard

- Curt Cignetti said Indiana kicker Nico Radicic missed the Howard game after waking Thursday with a pull in his rib cage. He said the replacement missed the first attempt but was good afterward. The interview provides the reason for that game's absence, not a confirmed return date or clearance for the next opponent. - Indiana recorded 12 tackles for loss and five sacks against Howard. Cignetti said the rush became difficult to block, though finishing tackles on the quarterback initially needed work. He approved using four defensive ends together on some third-and-long snaps, citing the staff's effort to maximize personnel; that does not make it a new every-down front. - Cignetti said Nick Marsh and Shazz Preston rotated more at the left receiver position against Howard, with Marsh also playing some on the right. He included them among the leading receiver group and praised Charlie Becker's preparation, explosiveness and special-teams work. The late-game snaps did not, by themselves, announce a demotion or new depth-chart order. - Indiana gave both backup quarterbacks game action. Cignetti praised Grant's runs and two touchdown passes, along with his value as an experienced backup and teammate; Tyler missed his first two throws before completing one. Cignetti demanded better execution on those misses but did not announce a change to Josh Hoover's starting role. - Cignetti liked Indiana's ability to repeatedly hand off and sustain an early drive against Howard, while warning that Big Ten rushing yards will be harder to earn and depend on line, tight-end and perimeter blocking. Both coaches agreed to shorten the fourth quarter to 10 minutes, an important limit when interpreting this blowout's raw production.

- QB/OL: Sitting in the stands I wasn’t particularly paying attention to what NT was doing.

- Pick/market: Well as Cig said, 8 or 9 days before game 1 they returned Brunner to his natural position in college which is guard...that means he had over 20+ practices and scrimmages to "earn" the...

- OL/LB: ""The broadcasts will "feature live audio between the game referee and replay official during reviews, alongside video of the game footage being viewed during the process and a view inside the state-of-the-art Big Ten...

- Pick/market: Fully agree.

- Pick/market: Howard feels like the game that they try to get up by 30-40 as quick as possible then flood the field with as many bodies as possible to see live game reps.

- OL: My thought was once Hoover saw the flag (which was in his line of sight) that he just let it go.

- Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover earned a 92.9 PFF offensive grade against North Texas, the only Hoosier offensive player above 90 who played most of the game rather than a very small reserve sample. - Indiana's offensive-line grades were uneven, with Drew Evans and Bray Lynch at 83.5 and 81.3 in pass blocking versus Carter Smith's 48.9, while no starter reached 69 in run blocking and Lynch was lowest at 53.2. - Indiana's team run-defense grade was 78.8, with linebacker Rolijah Hardy leading that category at 80.4 and defensive linemen Tobi Osunsanmi, Joe Hjelle and Chiddi Obiazor also grading well against the run. - Indiana's pass rush received a 54.4 team grade, and its highest individual pass-rush mark was Osunsanmi's 63.3, supporting the report's concern that the defense struggled to pressure North Texas' quarterback. - Indiana's tackling grade was only 54.0 overall despite stronger individual tackling marks for defensive backs Byron Baldwin at 83.4, Jaylen Bell at 80.7 and Quan Sanks at 79.7.

- OL: Also, OL is especially hard to grade if you don’t know the blocking scheme.

- Peegs' postgame reconstruction reports that Indiana running back Khobie Martin will miss several weeks, increasing Lee Beebe Jr.'s role behind Turbo Richard while leaving the next reserve spot between Sean Cuono and Jayreon Campbell unsettled. - Curt Cignetti said Indiana expects to retain Joe Brunner at right guard and Adedamola Ajani at right tackle after using that alignment in the opener, with Austin Leibfried also serving as an extra lineman in jumbo packages. - After Indiana cornerbacks A.J. Harris and Jamari Sharpe exited with injuries, Ryland Gandy handled the boundary replacement snaps and Jaylen Bell the field-side snaps, with no deeper cornerback rotation demonstrated after those departures. - Blake Smythe's injury absence gave Indiana freshman Cam McHaney 22 snaps at three-technique behind Mario Landino, although the report expects Smythe to reclaim that rotational role when healthy. - Indiana frequently used three linebackers against North Texas' run-heavy offense, bringing Jeff Utzinger into a SAM role and removing the rover from those packages, so the opener did not establish the depth behind starting rover Byron Baldwin Jr.

- Coaching: With Brunner playing right guard and Ajani playing right tackle, Curt Cignetti said the coaches felt that was their best lineup on the offensive line and that is the way they plan to lineup...

- OL/DL: I don’t typically make excuses, but for a bunch of massive humans, that heat was no joke.

- QB/OL: I’ve been amazed watching their O line execute and open up holes this game.