Week zero is done and the 2024 college football season is officially underway. Indiana football opens the Curt Cignetti era this Saturday when they take on Florida International at 3:30 in Bloomington.
Expectations are higher than normal for the Hoosiers as Cignetti and his staff brought in 31 transfers during the offseason.
While Indiana’s week one opponent shouldn’t cause too much trouble (Indiana football opened as an 18.5-point favorite), it will provide insight into what to expect for the rest of the season.
The game will also answer some key questions that have not been answered during fall camp.
The Running Back Splits
Indiana football completely replaced its rushing attack from the 2023 season with the team’s five leading rushers leaving the program. Cignetti brought in five key transfers to replace the lost production.
IU football added Justice Ellison and Elijah Green from the ACC while also bringing Ty Son Lawton, Kaelon Black, and Solomon Vanhorse from James Madison.
Cignetti has emphasized the importance of getting multiple running backs involved on offense. Last season with JMU, Lawton and Black split the workload evenly and the expectation is Indiana football will try to get three running backs involved consistently.
Ellison is expected to lead the group, but behind him is where the questions come from.
Who else is going to consistently see snaps out of the backfield for Indiana football?
Both Lawton and Black have experience in Cignetti’s offense which makes them the most likely options, but Green and Vanhorse are not to be ignored.
Green showcased his ability to find the end zone in 2022 when he scored nine touchdowns for North Carolina.
While Vanhorse has missed significant time because of injuries, he is in his seventh year with the coaching staff and could see opportunities as a result.
The exact splits and depth chart of the running back room won’t be made clear until Indiana football takes the field on Saturday.
Who is the third wide receiver?
The wide receiver group has been the most talked about position group all off-season for Indiana football. With the mix of new and returning talent, there is a lot to be excited about for the group heading into the season.
Donaven McCulley is coming off of a standout season where he led Indiana football with 48 catches, 644 yards, and six receiving touchdowns in 2023. He’s expected to start alongside JMU transfer Elijah Sarratt who finished the 2023 season with 82 catches, 1,191 yards, and nine total touchdowns.
The questions with the wide receiver group come after the dynamic duo as there is not a clear-cut third wide receiver behind them.
Texas Tech transfer Myles Price is one potential answer as he has played the slot role in the past. Price caught 161 passes for 1,751 yards over 42 games for the Red Raiders. His quickness has made him an effective returner in addition to a threat out of the slot.
Another potential answer is Ohio transfer Miles Cross. His connection with starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke is a big reason for this. Cross became one of Rourke’s favorite targets over the last two seasons with Ohio. He caught 94 passes for 1,177 yards and eight touchdowns over that period.
Indiana also returned several potential impact wide receivers from the 2023 roster. Omar Cooper Jr., Andison Coby, and EJ Williams Jr. are all potential impact players in the wide receiver room who could wind up filling that third receiver spot on offense.
With the first two games of the season being against non-power four schools, it will give multiple guys a chance to earn their spot as the number three wide receiver on the offense.
A fall injury has caused some reshuffling on the offensive line
The offensive line has been one of the biggest issues of Indiana football over the past several seasons. Even in 2020 when the Hoosiers were ranked as one of the top ten teams in the country, the offensive line was still a weakness.
Indiana poached Bob Bostad ahead of the 2023 season to correct those issues and his return with a new coaching staff signaled his importance to the program.
Indiana football returned 2023 captain Mike Katic and starter Carter Smith who are expected to start at center and left tackle for Bostad’s unit. The Hoosiers also added Trey Wedig who played under Bostad at Wisconsin, and he is expected to start at right tackle.
The play of the offensive line is going to be critical to the outlook of the season, so when it was announced that JMU transfer Nick Kidwell would miss the 2024 season, it created a big hole up front.
“As I look back since 2019, we’ve lost an All-Conference or All-American (player), one or two every year in camp or early in the season and usually on the d-line or o-line and had to overcome those and we have,” Cignetti said to reporters during fall camp. “So, it’s a next-man-up mentality and right now you’ve got Bray Lynch, Drew Evans and Tyler Stephens as sort of a triangle in there, three-for-two. They’re capable and I have confidence in them. So, we’ll see what the future holds for Nick.”
Going into the season it was expected that Kidwell and fellow JMU transfer Tyler Stephens would start at guard. With Kidwell’s injury, it opens at least one spot, but Cignetti seemed to open the door to the potential that Stephens might not be guaranteed to start.
Bray Lynch and Drew Evans are both sophom*ores who have not seen the field much with Indiana Football. Their competition Tyler Stephens has 31 career starts for James Madison and that experience could make a big difference in the position battle.
Saturday’s opener will answer the question of which two guys end up starting at the guard spots alongside Mike Katic.
This article first appeared on Hoosier Illustrated and was syndicated with permission.
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