Editor’s note: The official game score was 34-25. The last touchdown was scored by Drew Shouse, an 8-year-old Westport native who participated as part of Team Impact, an organization that works with kids with chronic illness. Shouse, who suffers from a heart defect, participated in the final play of the scrimmage and scored a 17-yard touchdown.
Indiana University football gave a sneak preview of what life will be under new coach Curt Cignetti on Thursday as it hosted its first spring football game since 2019.
As anticipated, you can expect the ball to be in the air quite a bit this fall.
The Hoosiers’ offense was productive in fits and starts in front of approximately 5,000 fans at Memorial Stadium. In a modified scoring system, the combined efforts of the Indiana offense was able to edge the defense by a 28-25 margin.
Depending on whether you want to view it through a glass half-full or half-empty prism, the offense saved itself with a perfectly executed two-minute drill to earn the winning margin. It was a scoring system that favored the offense, however, so the fact that a late drive was needed to put the defense to rest would be cause for concern if it was a game that counted.
However, it didn’t, of course, so Cignetti could afford to be philosophical about what he saw on Thursday as the public got their first look at his style of football.
“When you look back to Dec. 1, the first day I took the job, when we had ten offensive starters in the portal and many defensive guys and really couldn’t even fill the team at that point, and where we are today, we made good progress,” Cignetti said.
IU’s offense threw 50 passes to 28 running plays during the scrimmage. This was not a surprise, but the way the numbers were amassed were not necessarily what anyone would have expected.
Ohio University transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke led the first offense and got his share of passing opportunities. Official statistics were not kept, so all statistics are unofficial, but Rourke completed 21 of 33 passes for 146 yards and one touchdown pass, a 3-yard connection with Andison Coby with under a minute to go to put the Offense on top.
Rourke mostly threw into the slot and used short and medium routes, finding 10 different receivers, including three different tight ends. Rourke got better as he went along. He completed 10 of his last 13 pass attempts, including eight in a row at one point.
Rourke is very much on-board with Cignetti’s approach to molding Indiana into a winner.
“The coaching staff and the mentality that they have to come and win is something that drew me here. Coach Cignetti is a confident guy. Being able to hear that and hear that he’s not here to start rebuilding, he’s here to win in year one? It says a lot about who he is,” Rourke said.
Tayven Jackson, a holdover from the Tom Allen era, made his mark too. Jackson completed 11 of 14 passes for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Jackson did almost all of his damage in his first two series of the scrimmage.
Jackson was true on his first seven pass attempts, including an 11-yard connection with Donoven McCulley for Indiana’s first offensive touchdown. Jackson slowed later and his interception gave the Defense a chance to get back in the game.
True freshman Tyler Cherry played two series and completed 1 of 3 passes for eight yards while being sacked once.
Coby was the primary yardage recipient as the senior had four catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. Texas Tech transfer Myles Price had four catches for 41 yards. James Madison transfer Cade Serratt had four catches for 35 yards.
IU’s running game was solid. James Madison transfer Kaelon Black rushed for 40 yards on just four carries. North Carolina transfer Elijah Green had 29 rushing yards on seven carries. Indiana gained 97 rushing yards overall, though that includes sack yardage. The running backs alone averaged 4.6 yards per carry.
Still, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the offense. Of the 13 total series the Indiana offense ran, the defense stopped them eight times. IU’s defense got three points per stop and four points for a forced turnover, which is how they amassed their 25-point total.
There was a missed field goal, an interception, and the offense took a knee late, but the defense stopped the offense six times on series that would end in a punt in a normal football game.
Highlights for the defense included the interception, which Terry Jones Jr. earned on a pass over the middle by Jackson. Indiana had three sacks as Amare Ferrell, Isaiah Jones and Daniel Ndukwe all got to IU quarterbacks.
“Opening up we came out with a lot of energy. We got stops early,” Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “There were little things that will amount to big things, but we’ll get those cleaned up and get back to it.”
On the other hand? Some of Indiana’s biggest gains came on missed tackles or yards after contact.
“This was the first practice we tackled, which is kind of a trend across the country. I watched some other people, even their spring games, they’re thudding,” Cignetti explained.
There were no significant injuries, though wide receiver Miles Cross seemed to pull up on a late pass pattern into the end zone.
Unlike the recent past, IU can still remake its roster after spring ball ends. There is another portal season that has just begun and Cignetti will be hard at work trying to improve the Hoosiers’ roster even more so than it already has been.
“It’s a busy time for your coaches, number one. The portal is open. We spent a lot of time on that the last few days as well as recruits here and then getting ready for the scrimmage. Then they’re going to hit the road, May recruiting,” Cignetti said.
Indiana opens its 2024 regular season on Aug. 31 as the Hoosiers host Florida International.
