Indiana football's offense was 2nd nationally in scoring. Who needs to step up to keep pace?

Indianapolis Star

5 days ago

Part of what made Indiana football's most historic season last year was an offense among the best in the country.
Critique of opponents aside, the Hoosiers did what they needed to: dominated. They finished last season second in scoring offense at 41.3 points per game. IU was 34th in total offense in gaining 426.4 yards per game. They breakdown was they were tied for 31st in passing offense with Baylor at 261.3 yards per game, and their run game was just 63rd at 165.1 yards per contest.
Kurtis Rourke was masterful in leading the offense, even doing so on a torn ACL. He led an offense that was seventh in completion efficiency (68.1%). In the first edition of our roundtable, we discussed what Cal transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza brings to the Hoosiers, and how they may use him differently.
Mendoza was third in the ACC in yards passing per game at 273.09, which was 10th nationally. Ahead of him were Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord who led the nation (367.62) and No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward (331.77) whose Miami Hurricanes were the only team to score more than IU.
Now, that doesn't guarantee success, but it is a large reason for why draft analysts and others are high on his addition for IU. But that is only part of the equation. Who may be the X-factor for success? How do new players fit in? Who fills the void for injured Michigan transfer Tyler Morris?
IndyStar IU insider Zach Osterman and Herald-Times reporter Michael Niziolek huddled with IndyStar assistant sports editor Aaron Ferguson to discuss Mendoza's impact on IU football. Here is their conversation.
Ferguson: Simply put, who needs to emerge among offensive skill positions for this team to play at a consistent level?
Niziolek: With Curt Cignetti's focus on production over potential in the transfer portal, IU doesn't have many question marks at the skill positions going into 2025. Maryland transfer running back Roman Hemby is a good example. While he didn't have his best season in 2024, he has 3,268 yards from scrimmage in his career (2,347 rushing) and is probably the best pass-catching back the Hoosiers have had in a long time.
He's not the only capable back in the room either with Lee Beebe Jr. and Kaelon Black expected to have prominent roles as well. Things get a little bit dicey at receiver where IU doesn't have the same kind of depth it did at the start of fall camp last year when Donaven McCulley and E.J. Williams Jr. struggled to make the rotation. The Hoosiers didn't miss a beat when they walked away from the team a month into the season. Indiana opens camp in a couple of weeks with five available veteran receivers — Williams happens to be one of them after taking his name out of the portal — and a group of four underclassmen with a combined 23 snaps of experience. It might not matter if IU stays healthy, but it was surprising Cignetti didn't seek out at least one additional receiver in the portal just as some insurance.
Osterman: Yeah, I think this conversation has to begin with health. Indiana got uncommonly lucky with injuries last season. None of their top pass catchers missed meaningful time, nor did either of their top two running backs. That's not extraordinary luck — we know Cignetti believes in Derek Owings' ability to manage his roster's health — but it isn't something you can count on every year. Already, Indiana has had to make new plans at slot receiver, where Morris was expected to see significant snaps before a season-ending knee injury suffered in spring ball. The slot is probably the position I'm most curious about. Indiana added Makai Jackson (App State) in the winter and then plugged the Morris hole with Jonathan Brady (Cal) after the spring season. But that was a quietly important position for IU last season. The three players rotating through the slot combined for 104 receptions, 1,238 yards and 12 touchdowns. That is a big chunk of offense to replace, and already Indiana has had to shift gears once this offseason. Brady and Jackson have career resumes that suggest they're capable, but it's an important hole to fill.
Niziolek: What I find interesting about Jackson, is that he developed into more of an outside receiver at App State. He lined up on the outside more than 90% of the time last year and the numbers were similar in 2023. I think IU is going to approach the slot receiver position differently this year with everyone rotating through there. Cignetti mentioned that all the receivers except Charlie Becker cross-trained at the position during spring camp. Jackson will also be looking to make up for lost time after being limited for much of spring camp with a hamstring injury that also kept him out of the spring game.
Osterman: That's an interesting possibility. And entirely plausible. Honestly, when you consider the backs are also slightly different profile this year (probably fair to say Hemby and Beebe lean a little more toward pass catching than Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison did last season), and as we discussed in Part I, Mendoza has more potential mobility, I could see an offense that doesn't operate with total uniformity in 2025 to the way it did in 2024. I don't think there will be wholesale changes but I think it could look discernably different.
Ferguson: One named not mentioned yet is Wisconsin transfer Riley Nowakowski, a tight end who was used as a blocker but also caught 11 passes for 74 yards last year in a failed Air Raid experiment. How does he fit into the Cignetti/Mike Shanahan offense, given he has those spread concepts and can be utilized in either phase of the game?
Osterman: I'm not sure I'm ready to pin my flag to anything yet at tight end. Zach Horton was the alpha and omega there last season, and he's gone. James Bomba is the holdover from last year who, when healthy, was often utilized as a second end/blocker. IU also added Holden Staes, who on paper looks like the most pass game-oriented of those three. I'm also curious about Nowakowski's time playing fullback, something I don't think he'll do a lot at Indiana but something I'm not sure Indiana would've trusted anyone to do last year, so again, maybe that's another potential new wrinkle. Among those three (plus maybe a freshman if one impresses), I think Indiana has the tools it needs at tight end. I'm just not sure what the division of labor and order of responsibility is in that group.
Niziolek: Staes has the greater potential as a receiving threat, but I think Nowakowski has an edge as the more proven inline blocker. Horton's toughness is what earned him such a prominent role in Cignetti's offense going back to when they were at James Madison together. Nowakowski earned a similar reputation at Wisconsin having earned a scholarship and starting role as a former walk-on and he's plenty capable of putting up numbers like Horton did last year (21 catches for 189 yards and four touchdowns).
Ferguson: Is there a world where a tight end splits out more to help fill the void at slot, not that it's totally going away but replace whatever expected production came with Morris?
Niziolek: Brady is a more direct replacement for Morris, but I think some of the production IU got from its slot receivers last year will go to the running backs. The Hoosiers brought in two of the top pass-catching backs (Hemby and Beebe Jr.) available in the portal. They are capable of moving all over the line of scrimmage and I think you will more screens out to them that might have gone to a guy like Myles Price last year. Indiana's running backs combined for 30 receptions last year, and I don't think it would be all that surprising if Hemby and Beebe double that number.
Osterman: Hemby is a real X factor for me for Indiana this year. It might be nearness bias purely because I've seen him shred IU defenses a handful of times in the past. But he always felt like a player with more talent than his offense was equipped to showcase at Maryland, either because of a preference for throwing the ball or because of blocking issues. If Indiana sees similar performance from its offensive line this year, I think as Mike alludes to there, Hemby opens up a lot of fascinating options for Cignetti and Shanahan.
Ferguson: If screens and pass-catchers in the backfield are going to diversify the offense, may we see variation in trick plays because they will be so versatile?
Osterman: I don't think that's really something Cignetti leans into too much. He'll run them from time to time like any coach, probably to put them on film for future opponents as much as anything else. But I think his offenses tend to stay pretty true to what they're built to do around their personnel, rather than try to overthink stuff too much if that makes sense.
Niziolek: Indiana didn't need to resort to trick plays very often last season since the offense operated at such a high level as the second-highest scoring team in the country. Some more versatility in the backfield might lead to a few more getting sprinkled in, but I don't think Cignetti will be desperate to insert them as long as the offense keeps the ball moving.