Indiana Football Preview 2025: Hoosiers Season Prediction, Win Total Projection, Top Players
Be great running the ball on everyone.All of the whining about the Indiana schedule last year was overblown, except for one area - the ground attack.Indiana ran well against the mediocre and sad, going 10-0 when pounding out 122 yards or more. Who kept the Hoosiers to under 100 yards? Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Michigan.
Indiana Hoosiers Key Player
Tyrique Tucker, DT Jr.The Indiana defense will be great against the run no matter what, but it'll be next-level again as long as the main man on the nose keeps doing his job.The 6-0, 298-pound anchor made 29 tackles with five tackles for loss as a freshman at James Madison, and made 24 tackles with five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks last year in the middle of the Hoosier line. 2025 Indiana PreviewIndiana Offense BreakdownIndiana Defense Breakdown
Indiana Hoosiers Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss
Top Transfer In: Fernando Mendoza, QB Jr.The 6-5, 225-pounder was a good freshman passer at Cal, and last year he was razor sharp before getting knocked out late in the season. He's deadly accurate, keeps the mistakes to a minimum, and he can run a little bit.Top Transfer Out: Donaven McCulley, WR Sr.The team's top receiver in 2023, McCulley made 48 catches for 644 yards and four scores. Just when the fun was about to start last year, he got hurt right out of the gate and was done. Now he's off to Michigan to be its star on the outside.
Indiana Hoosiers Key Game
Illinois, Sept. 20You know all that stuff about the Indiana schedule last season? Starting the Big Ten season against Illinois will show right away whether or not the Hoosiers will be players this year. Lost this, and with a trip to Iowa next, followed up by a date at Oregon, and this could go sideways fast.- 2025 Indiana Schedule Breakdown
Indiana Hoosiers Top 10 Players
1. Mikail Kamara, EDGE Sr.2. Elijah Sarratt, WR Sr.3. Fernando Mendoza, QB Jr.4. Aiden Fisher, LB Sr.5. Tyrique Tucker, DT Jr.6. D'Angelo Ponds, CB Jr.7. Amare Ferrell, S Jr.8. Pat Coogan, C Sr.9. Roman Hemby RB Sr.10. Hosea Wheeler, DT Sr.
Indiana Hoosiers 2024 Fun Stats
- 1st Quarter Scoring: Indiana 108, Opponents 20- Fumbles: Opponents 16 (lost 9), Indiana 10 (lost 3)- Kickoff Returns: Opponents 41 for 804 yards, Indiana 6 for 127 yards
Indiana Hoosiers 2025 Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
Last year at this time, it seemed like there wasn't any way possible to get by Ohio State, Michigan, Washington, and sidestep other landmines like Nebraska, and Maryland, and Michigan State, and …This will be a tougher grind.Indiana will still be terrific, and the non-conference season will once again be light and breezy - Indiana State, Kennesaw State, Old Dominion - but things get nasty in a hurry.There's no Ohio State or Michigan - missing Minnesota, Nebraska, USC, and Washington isn't bad either - but going to Oregon, Penn State, and Iowa will be rough.
But this isn't the Indiana of old. It'll win its share of hard games, and it'll get hot late with a great second half of the season, but it won't be a CFP season.It'll be a second straight bowl season and the best two-year run in the history of Hoosier football.Set The Indiana Win Total At … 8Likely Wins: Indiana State, Kennesaw State, Old Dominion, at Purdue50/50 Games: Illinois, at Iowa, at Maryland, Michigan State, UCLA, WisconsinLikely Losses: at Oregon, at Penn State 2025 Indiana PreviewIndiana Offense BreakdownIndiana Defense Breakdown
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Fox Sports
2 hours ago
- Fox Sports
Mature, Focused, Humble: Michigan's Bryce Underwood Isn't Your Average 17-Year-Old
LAS VEGAS — A little more than two months ago, as Michigan embarked on its summer break following the completion of spring practice, some of the Wolverines got together to play pickup basketball, one of their favorite group activities away from the football field. But when veteran edge rusher Derrick Moore arrived at the court, he quickly noticed the presence of someone who shouldn't have been in attendance: freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, the five-star phenom whose commitment to Michigan last November transformed him into an NIL multi-millionaire long before his 18th birthday, which is still a few weeks away. "What are you doing here?" Derrick Moore asked. "You're not supposed to be here." The chilly reaction had nothing to do with what he thinks of Underwood as a person. Like so many of his other teammates and coaches, Derrick Moore is now a wholehearted believer in the teenage prodigy after observing how Underwood, the No. 1 overall recruit in the country, has carried himself since flipping his commitment from LSU to Michigan last November and enrolling over the winter. Underwood joined the Wolverines in time for their bowl prep against Alabama and then took plenty of reps during spring ball amid a quarterback room thinned by injuries and transfers alike. All signs now point toward him being the team's starter once the regular season arrives. Instead, Derrick Moore's objection to Underwood playing basketball on that summer day was purely economic, even if he originally rolled his eyes a bit at the monetary figures attached to Underwood's recruitment. One spring was all it took for Moore to deem it unwise of the program's most valuable asset — a player who reportedly inked a market-resetting NIL deal worth between $10 million and $12.5 million over four years — to risk injury during a meaningless social activity. Especially after defensive coordinator Don "Wink" Martindale spent the spring yelling at his players to "stay away from Bryce, don't touch Bryce at all!" in acknowledgment of how vital Underwood's health really is. "I feel like we do a good job protecting him and also giving him good advice," Derrick Moore said while representing the Wolverines at Big Ten Media Days. "He's worth a lot, so we've got to make sure he knows. I feel like he already knows, but I feel like we've got to do a good job of reminding him that he can't do too much. And if you do play basketball, no jumping, no jumping at all." Underwood, of course, was nowhere to be found in the South Seas Ballroom at Mandalay Bay, where the Wolverines' contingent of Derrick Moore, fullback/tight end Max Bredeson, inside linebacker Ernest Hausmann and second-year head coach Sherrone Moore were responsible for telling wave after wave of reporters about the program's shiniest new toy. It would have been thoroughly un-Michigan-like for Moore to bring Underwood to this week's event, the league's unofficial kickoff party for the 2025 campaign, though Colorado head coach Deion Sanders brought his true freshman quarterback, Julian Lewis, to Big 12 Media Days earlier this month. The Wolverines are digging in their heels to slow the Underwood hype train from picking up too much speed, but everyone around the program — let alone fans outside it — can sense the cars beginning to careen off the track. In a last-ditch effort to fortify himself against the barrage he surely knew was coming, Moore responded to the first question about Underwood by reminding the media that Michigan has yet to name a starting quarterback, that the competition is wide open entering fall camp, that Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene and East Carolina transfer Jake Garcia and former four-star prospect Jadyn Davis will all have chances to stake their claim between now and the season opener against New Mexico on Aug. 30. "There is no starter," Moore said. But that didn't stop reporters from asking Moore about whether the extra reps Underwood took during the spring, when Keene was recovering from an undisclosed injury and Garcia had not yet joined the program, accelerated the timeline for when he will be ready to play. Or about how Underwood has embraced the possibility — inevitability — of starting for Michigan, the winningest program in college football history, as a true freshman. Or about why the Wolverines won't just declare Underwood the starter given the extreme financial commitment they've made to him. All those questions came in the first third of Moore's allotted media time. "His job is to just go be the best teammate, best football player he can be," Moore said. "And whoever that person is, it's going to take a village. And for us to be a successful program, to be a successful football team, we have to do a great job surrounding that person with weapons on the football field [and] the weapons mentally to be successful." Still, there was a fascinating juxtaposition on Thursday between the way Moore and Michigan's upperclassmen spoke compassionately, almost tenderly, about Underwood's numerical age — he'll finally turn 18 next month — and the slack-jawed reverence with which they described his maturity as an athlete, likening his habits and disposition to those of seasoned veterans. On one side of the room was Bredeson, a fifth-year senior and one of the program's longest-tenured players, telling reporters that he takes "a little bit of pride and responsibility in being like the older guy who can kind of calm college football down for him," while also admitting that nobody else in Michigan's locker room can understand the life that Underwood currently leads, from the sheer attention generated by his every move to the opportunities that land at his feet. On the other side of the room was Derrick Moore, a former blue-chip recruit in his own right, expressing genuine awe about how someone so young can display such unwavering focus and concentration, traits Moore said he never came close to matching at that age. Underwood, who grew up a half hour from Michigan's campus, has already developed a reputation for being one of the first to arrive at Schembechler Hall each morning and one of the last to leave each night, a classic football cliché bestowed upon a team's hardest workers. He's known for taking the field alone 20 minutes prior to every session, headphones wrapped around his ears, to study that day's practice script and visualize the drills in his mind. He builds chemistry with the wide receivers and tight ends via extra throwing sessions that often run until the wee hours of the morning. He competes maniacally in the weight room and has packed enough muscle onto his 6-foot-4 frame to reach 230 pounds. He accepts constructive criticism from anyone in the building and carries out menial tasks without a hint of rebuttal. "He's not no average 17-year-old," Derrick Moore said. "With a lot of money that's coming in, he's pretty humble. If he does anything wrong, he takes full accountability for it. You don't really hear too much trouble out of him, you know? He does everything like a pro." Even if that means sitting out of pickup basketball. Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account , and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience College Football recommended Item 1 of 3 Get more from the College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
USC's Lincoln Riley feeling 'refreshed' as pressure mounts to win in Year 4
While the rest of the college football world spent the summer whipped into a frenzy, swept up by the specter of revenue sharing or congressional intervention or one of the many other landscape-altering changes looming over the sport, Lincoln Riley was able to actually step away and take a breath. In four years as USC's coach, Riley hasn't had many chances to really unplug. There was the sprint ahead of his first season, and the heavy portal push ahead of his second. The third came with a new conference, new defense, new expectations, new pressure. The fourth, by comparison, is starting on a more relaxed note than Riley is used to. There were no phone calls taking up half a day of his family vacation. His fly fishing went mostly unbothered. He even golfed at Pebble Beach in May. Read more: Lincoln Riley 'absolutely' wants to keep USC-Notre Dame game on schedule 'I'd say I'm feeling as refreshed and recharged as I've been in a long time,' Riley said Thursday during Big Ten media days. Never mind that the pressure for Riley to win at USC has perhaps never been so high, coming off a 7-6 campaign in which the Trojans needed a comeback bowl win to scrape past .500. The path to winning has arguably never been so uncertain, either, with the advent of revenue sharing completely upending how championship rosters are constructed. In spite of that backdrop, this past summer still felt less daunting to Riley than the rest. He says he didn't feel the offseason chaos that some of colleagues have described in the wake of the House settlement. Some of that added calm he credits to Chad Bowden, USC's new general manager, and his handpicked front office, who have taken personnel matters largely off Riley's plate. Immediately laying claim to the nation's No. 1 recruiting class for 2026 hasn't hurt in building that trust, either. But it's more than that, according to Riley. 'There are less big fixes going on right now, you know?' he said. 'It's like you've got the house built, and it's kind of all about the finishes now. You're not trying to put up a wall or anything like that.' Whether USC is actually that close to being a finished product is up for debate. The Trojans' win total has declined in each of Riley's first three seasons, during which his record is worse than that of his predecessor, Clay Helton. Now the Trojans enter his fourth with a raw, unproven commodity at quarterback, a threadbare linebacker room, and an inexperienced offensive line that could already be down a projected starter. There's also the matter of their fourth-quarter issues last season, which saw the Trojans inexplicably cough up leads in five of their six losses. But Riley looks at it differently. 'It's the first time where we had an opportunity at the end of the game to win every single game that we played,' he said. 'The really good teams separate in a lot of their games, and they win the close games they end up in. That's typically how it happens, and that's what we've got to become. And so the way to do it, every part of your program has to be pretty strong. "We've graduated from being way behind in this area, and being pretty decent in this area to, like, every right now is either good or pretty darn good. Now it's just about taking those small steps in all those areas to, I guess, hypothetically push you over the hump.' The biggest leap in that regard could once again be on defense, where USC went from one of the worst units in the nation in 2023 (121st in scoring defense) to respectable (56th) under defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn. That was no small feat, considering where they came from. And the Trojans have added considerable talent to its defense since. The front seven should benefit greatly from the return of linebacker Eric Gentry and defensive end Anthony Lucas from injury. And on the interior, USC brought in two massive transfers on the interior, as well as a five-star freshman. 'I think the depth, the talent level, and the size of the defensive line, I mean, there's honestly really no comparison to this time 12 months ago,' Riley said. But the Trojans' path will inevitably, at some point, come down to their quarterback. Riley reiterated his confidence in Jayden Maiava as the Trojans' starter, even as he once again heaped praise on five-star freshman Husan Longstreet. Left tackle Elijah Paige said Thursday that he has seen a major change in Maiava since he entered the offseason as the presumptive starter. Read more: USC athletics eliminates a dozen jobs as it manages new revenue sharing expenses 'He's taken a complete 180,' Paige said of USC's quarterback. "[In the spring,] he commanded the offense, and that's what this team needs.' Of course, everyone is feeling optimistic this time of year, with more than a month still remaining before USC kicks off against Missouri State. But Riley isn't the only one who feels those finishing touches underway. 'We've gone and gotten some of the very best people in the business,' Riley said. 'They're not going to attach themselves to something where they don't see the progress. 'And you do not get a recruiting class like this unless there's a crazy amount of momentum within the program. Like, I don't care what else you have. If you don't have momentum, you do not get a class like we have.' Sign up for more USC news with Times of Troy. In your inbox every Monday morning. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
4 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
USC's Lincoln Riley feeling ‘refreshed' as pressure mounts to win in Year 4
LAS VEGAS — While the rest of the college football world spent the summer whipped into a frenzy, swept up by the specter of revenue sharing or congressional intervention or one of the many other landscape-altering changes looming over the sport, Lincoln Riley was able to actually step away and take a breath. In four years as USC's coach, Riley hasn't had many chances to really unplug. There was the sprint ahead of his first season, and the heavy portal push ahead of his second. The third came with a new conference, new defense, new expectations, new pressure. The fourth, by comparison, is starting on a more relaxed note than Riley is used to. There were no phone calls taking up half a day of his family vacation. His fly fishing went mostly unbothered. He even golfed at Pebble Beach in May. 'I'd say I'm feeling as refreshed and recharged as I've been in a long time,' Riley said Thursday during Big Ten media days. Never mind that the pressure for Riley to win at USC has perhaps never been so high, coming off a 7-6 campaign in which the Trojans needed a comeback bowl win to scrape past .500. The path to winning has arguably never been so uncertain, either, with the advent of revenue sharing completely upending how championship rosters are constructed. In spite of that backdrop, this past summer still felt less daunting to Riley than the rest. He says he didn't feel the offseason chaos that some of colleagues have described in the wake of the House settlement. Some of that added calm he credits to Chad Bowden, USC's new general manager, and his handpicked front office, who have taken personnel matters largely off Riley's plate. Immediately laying claim to the nation's No. 1 recruiting class for 2026 hasn't hurt in building that trust, either. But it's more than that, according to Riley. 'There are less big fixes going on right now, you know?' he said. 'It's like you've got the house built, and it's kind of all about the finishes now. You're not trying to put up a wall or anything like that.' Whether USC is actually that close to being a finished product is up for debate. The Trojans' win total has declined in each of Riley's first three seasons, during which his record is worse than that of his predecessor, Clay Helton. Now the Trojans enter his fourth with a raw, unproven commodity at quarterback, a threadbare linebacker room, and an inexperienced offensive line that could already be down a projected starter. There's also the matter of their fourth-quarter issues last season, which saw the Trojans inexplicably cough up leads in five of their six losses. But Riley looks at it differently. 'It's the first time where we had an opportunity at the end of the game to win every single game that we played,' he said. 'The really good teams separate in a lot of their games, and they win the close games they end up in. That's typically how it happens, and that's what we've got to become. And so the way to do it, every part of your program has to be pretty strong. 'We've graduated from being way behind in this area, and being pretty decent in this area to, like, every right now is either good or pretty darn good. Now it's just about taking those small steps in all those areas to, I guess, hypothetically push you over the hump.' The biggest leap in that regard could once again be on defense, where USC went from one of the worst units in the nation in 2023 (121st in scoring defense) to respectable (56th) under defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn. That was no small feat, considering where they came from. And the Trojans have added considerable talent to its defense since. The front seven should benefit greatly from the return of linebacker Eric Gentry and defensive end Anthony Lucas from injury. And on the interior, USC brought in two massive transfers on the interior, as well as a five-star freshman. 'I think the depth, the talent level, and the size of the defensive line, I mean, there's honestly really no comparison to this time 12 months ago,' Riley said. But the Trojans' path will inevitably, at some point, come down to their quarterback. Riley reiterated his confidence in Jayden Maiava as the Trojans' starter, even as he once again heaped praise on five-star freshman Husan Longstreet. Left tackle Elijah Paige said Thursday that he has seen a major change in Maiava since he entered the offseason as the presumptive starter. 'He's taken a complete 180,' Paige said of USC's quarterback. '[In the spring,] he commanded the offense, and that's what this team needs.' Of course, everyone is feeling optimistic this time of year, with more than a month still remaining before USC kicks off against Missouri State. But Riley isn't the only one who feels those finishing touches underway. 'We've gone and gotten some of the very best people in the business,' Riley said. 'They're not going to attach themselves to something where they don't see the progress. 'And you do not get a recruiting class like this unless there's a crazy amount of momentum within the program. Like, I don't care what else you have. If you don't have momentum, you do not get a class like we have.'
