Indiana Preps | College Corner

Fernando Mendoza wasn’t on the field Thursday evening in Bloomington. He didn’t need to be. The moment the video board flashed the graphic of the reigning Heisman Trophy winner going first overall in the NFL Draft, Memorial Stadium shook the way it only does when Indiana football has done something worth remembering. The crowd roared. The moment landed. And then, almost instantly, the focus shifted back to the field — because that’s the standard Curt Cignetti has built here now.

National champions. Reloading. Full speed ahead.

In a spring game where IU’s offense topped the defense 26-13, the storylines ranged from cautiously encouraging to genuinely exciting. Here’s what stood out.

Who Made an Impression

The name Cignetti kept coming back to after practice was wide receiver Tyler Morris, and Thursday gave the fanbase a reason to understand why.

“He’s made some big plays here the last five or six practices. And that’s good to see. We’re going to need him — he’s an experienced guy who can probably play all three positions,” Cignetti said.

Morris, a fifth-year senior transfer who spent all of last season injured and never suited up for the Hoosiers, made his presence felt immediately — hauling in a 70-yard touchdown pass early in the game. An offense that already features an embarrassment of receiving talent just got potentially deeper if Morris can stay healthy and translate those practice reps into fall production.

The other standout was one of the less glamorous but most valuable players on the roster. Kicker Nico Radicic continued to be exactly what every college football program desperately wants and rarely has — automatic. The junior went four-for-four on field goal attempts, including one from 50 yards, and converted both extra points without incident. In a sport where games are routinely decided by a handful of points, Radicic is a competitive advantage that doesn’t always get the credit it deserves.

The Strongest Position Group

It seems almost impossible that a backfield which just lost Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black — two of the more productive running backs in program history — could come back just as dangerous. And yet, here we are.

The headliner is Boston College transfer Turbo Richard, who got the bulk of the carries in the spring game and looked every bit the part. Richard ran for 749 yards and nine touchdowns at Boston College, added two receiving touchdowns, and averaged more than five yards per carry in both of his seasons with the Eagles. He is built in the Kaelon Black mold — compact, powerful, with the ability to make cuts in tight spaces and absorb contact. He ran that way on Thursday, even behind an offensive line dealing with a few injuries.

He’s not alone. Junior Khobie Martin, who flashed his talent in limited opportunities last season while operating behind Hemby and Black, is now in line for a significantly expanded role. Martin is a different kind of back — faster, more of a big-play threat — and gives Indiana the ability to change the tempo of a drive with one substitution. Redshirt senior Lee Beebe rounds out the room. Beebe averaged over seven yards per carry last season before a season-ending injury cut his year to three games. He didn’t play Thursday but is expected to be fully healthy by fall camp. Three legitimate backs with different skill sets and legitimate production. That room may be deeper than last year’s version.

The Position Group to Watch

The easy take after Josh Hoover’s spring game — 6-for-16, no touchdowns, a handful of sacks — is to sound the alarm. That would be a mistake.

Context matters. Hoover arrives in Bloomington as the active FBS leader in career passing yards with 9,629 and second in career passing touchdowns with 71. He started 31 consecutive games at TCU. He broke the program’s single-season passing record. He is not a project. He is a proven starter learning a new system in a spring game — a setting that historically flatters no quarterback. Cignetti’s two previous starters, Kurtis Rourke and Fernando Mendoza, both needed time to settle into this offense before taking off. There is no reason to expect anything different from Hoover. There is also a full-circle element to his arrival worth noting: Hoover originally committed to Indiana out of high school before flipping to TCU. Four years later, he’s finally a Hoosier.

The more legitimate concern coming out of Thursday is the tight end room.

Riley Nowakowski was more than a starter for last year’s national championship squad — he was a system piece. A punishing run blocker. A reliable third-down option. A dangerous weapon on screens after the catch. Replacing that specific combination of traits is harder than it looks. Cignetti addressed the need by landing Brock Schott, a transfer from Miami and a Fort Wayne native who is currently the frontrunner for the starting job. The problem is that Schott recently had hip labrum surgery and won’t be cleared for practice until fall camp — meaning there will be no extended evaluation period before the season opener against North Texas.

That leaves redshirt freshmen Andrew Barker and Blake Thiry as the next options in line. Barker showed some hands on Thursday but also had a few drops. Thiry made one solid catch. Neither looked like a player ready to replicate Nowakowski’s impact tomorrow. How quickly Schott returns to full health and how fast he can get up to speed in this system will be one of the more important subplots of fall camp.

The Bigger Picture

Thursday evening in Bloomington felt celebratory, and it should have. A national championship deserves to be acknowledged. But if the energy in the building was any indication, this program isn’t lingering in last season’s glow. The standard has been raised. Cignetti and the Hoosiers appear to understand exactly what that means — and what it requires.

The roster is deep. The quarterback is experienced. The running back room is as good as advertised. The questions that remain are answerable. A team that just won a national title and is already talking about winning the next one isn’t a program catching lightning in a bottle. It’s a program that has changed what Indiana football looks like.

Fall can’t get here fast enough.