BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football isn’t just playing Western Illinois on Friday night. 

“You are fighting human nature,” coach Curt Cignetti said during his weekly appearance on Inside Indiana Football. 

Cignetti was referencing the fact that Western Illinois comes to Memorial Stadium riding a 25-game losing streak that dates back to 2021. The program has changed coaches three times since its last winning season in 2017. 

Indiana football built up a bit of momentum with a 31-7 win over FIU in the opener, but Cignetti wants to make sure his team doesn’t get tripped up by overlooking a clearly inferior opponent. 

More: Will Indiana football WR Donaven McCulley be available against Western Illinois?

Jump into our weekly preview, The Runout, for what stood out during the week, players to watch, a prediction and more:

Indiana football vs. Western Illinois: Tale of the tape

• When: Friday, Sept. 6 at 7:00 ET
• Where: Memorial Stadium (52,626), Bloomington, Indiana
• TV: Big Ten Network
• Line: N/A
• Series: This is the first meeting between the programs

More: What are the most important stats from Indiana football’s win over FIU? Consider these

Indiana football players to watch vs Western Illinois

Myles Price, WR

Price has been looking for his second career 100-yard receiving game since 2021. He first reached the milestone when he had nine catches for 175 yards for Texas Tech in a win over Iowa State. 

He might not be able to surpass that total on Friday night, but the speedster should be in line for a big day against a Western Illinois secondary that gave up 394 passing yards in its season opener against Northern Illinois.

Price, who had four catches for 29 yards, forced three missed tackles in the opener. 

He’s going to be hard for the Leathernecks to contain in the open field — their defense combined for 11 missed tackles — and gave up four receptions of 20 yards or more through the air for 173 yards and three scores. 

Trey Wedig, OT

Indiana’s offensive line had a strong showing in the run game. 

The group consistently won at the point of attack and played with a physicality that’s been lacking the last few seasons. Things weren’t as clean when IU dropped back to pass, and Wedig struggled more than the rest of his linemates.

The Hooisers gave up six quarterback pressures in the season-opener and Wedig gave up half of them, according to Pro Football Focus. He had the lowest pass-blocking rating among the starters at 48.2 on 35 snaps. 

Some growing pains were to be expected considering Wedig hadn’t played tackle in a game since 2022, but a bounceback performance would help give him some confidence with a UCLA team with a much more imposing defensive front on deck. 

The Bruins had five sacks and 11 tackles for loss in their opener against Hawaii. 

Andrew Turvy, DE

Turvy played more snaps in the season-opener than his first two seasons at Indiana. 

He played the fourth most snaps of IU’s defense ends ahead of scholarship players like Jacob Mangum-Farrar (11) and Venson Sneed Jr. (11). He was plenty productive as well with three quarterback pressures including a sack.

Will Turvey be a one-hit wonder or land a permanent spot on the two-deep? The role is there for the taking since the Hooisers don’t have a ton of depth at defensive end behind Mikail Kamara and Lanell Carr. 

More: Curt Cignetti said not to expect too many freshmen to play. He meant it.

Indiana football: Week 2 Odds and Ends

▶ Tip of the cap: Indiana football tackled pretty well for a team that only went full contact in practice one time during the offseason. Cignetti was pleased with how IU’s defense swarmed to the ball — he said they consistently had  “multiple hats at the point of contact” — and it was a key factor in limiting FIU to just three explosive plays. 

▶ Heavy plate: Indiana’s starting safeties Shawn Asbury II and Josh Sanguinetti were basically interchangeable on Saturday. The Hoosiers also had multiple guys on the defensive front (Mikail Kamara and Marcus Burris) rotating between defensive end and tackle. Those roles could change week-to-week based on defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ game plan, but he clearly values versatile players that allow him to throw different looks at the competition.  

▶ “Inexcusable”: Indiana was called for nine penalties for 80 yards in the opener and seven of those were called on the offense. Cignetti addressed the topic after the game, during his press conference on Monday and again on his weekly coach’s show. He said the team had some issues with penalties during a pair of scrimmages during fall camp as well. It’s clear the offense isn’t getting a mulligan on those miscues and have to clean things up in a hurry to tamp down Cignetti’s frustration. 

Indiana football stat of the week

▶ 25: Here’s a bit more on Western Illinois’ lengthy losing streak — the Leathernecks haven’t won a game since beating Illinois State 38-31 on Oct. 30, 2021, their average margin of defeat during the streak is 29.8 points and they have only played four one-possession games.

More: Mind Your Banners: Defense shines IU’s season-opening win against Florida International

Indiana football quote of the week

 “We’re up 21-0, as a coach that’s where you really got to do the job. Not being satisfied, keeping the hammer down, really being on the kids trying to detect any relaxation or warm fuzzies,” — Indiana coach Curt Cignetti on Inside Indiana Football

Herald-Times prediction: Indiana 58, Western Illinois 10

Western Illinois has given up 50-plus points in its last four matchups against FBS opponents going back to the 2022 season. The Hoosiers should be able to hit that number for the first time since 2021 against Idaho without having to keep their starters in the game for much more than a half. The first-team defense shouldn’t have to strain too hard to get a shutout either. The focus will be on staying healthy and getting some youngsters reps. 

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Friday night lights take on a different meaning as Indiana football hosts Western Illinois at 7 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium.

College football Fridays are relatively new and still controversial for some, but this is the third straight season the Hoosiers have hosted a Friday night game. Friday’s game will be the seventh Friday night game in Indiana’s history.

Indiana (1-0) got off to a positive start in Curt Cignetti’s debut as coach with a 31-7 victory over Florida International Saturday. The Hoosiers were in control from the time they took a 21-0 lead and came out of the opener relatively injury-free. Running back Kaelon Black and wide receiver Donaven McCulley suffered the only injuries Cignetti has revealed. They are both day-to-day entering Friday’s contest.

On the other sideline, Western Illinois (0-1) will try to end a 25-game losing streak, one extended with a 54-15 loss at Northern Illinois Saturday. The Leathernecks last won on Oct, 30, 2021 – a 38-31 victory over Illinois State. Western Illinois has not played within a touchdown of an opponent in nine games, a stretch dating to a 43-40 loss to Lindenwood on Sept. 16, 2023.

The last time Western Illinois played a Big Ten team, Minnesota prevailed 62-10 in 2022. Western Illinois last defeated a FBS team in 2016 when it defeated Northern Illinois 28-23.

Meet the Coaches

Discrimination and harassment of Jewish students based on Zionist aspects of their identity will be prohibited by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the university and Jewish organizations announced on Tuesday as part of an agreement to extend nondiscrimination policies to include targeting of Jews and more expansive definitions of antisemitism.

The agreement of mutual understanding between the university, Jewish United Fund of Chicago, Hillel International, and Illinois Hillel would extend to Jewish students the protections of the university’s 1987 nondiscrimination policy, which prohibits discrimination and harassment based on protected characteristics against students, faculty, and staff for admissions, employment, and university programs and activities.

The university’s pledge to protect Jewish students included their harassment or discrimination based on “Zionist aspects of their Jewish identity.” The university had previously recognized that Zionism is an integral part of the identity of Jewish identity in a 2020 statement with the same Jewish organizations and promised to recommit to the declaration.

“UIUC has agreed to reform its policies and procedures in a pathbreaking manner that can serve as a model for higher education institutions across the country,” said Hillel president and CEO Adam Lehman. “These critical commitments will make campus safer and more welcoming for Jewish students and for all students in Urbana-Champaign.”

Taking real action

The university said it would take action against such discrimination, which included not permitting registered student organizations (RSOs) to boycott university-sponsored activities because of Jewish students organization participation.

 RSOs will be required to sign nondiscrimination statements to prevent the exclusion of any students based on any protected characteristics.

Projects to be developed by the university will include a bias incidents information dashboard and an advisory council on inclusion and belonging.

The university will offer training for administration and students on antisemitism in cooperation with Hillel, which will include how students can experience anti-Zionist conduct as antisemitism. 

There will also be at least one annual meeting held at the institution for students, faculty and staff to raise concerns about incidents of harassment.

According to the agreement, the university recognized the 2023 US National Strategy which elaborates that it is antisemitism when Jews are derided and excluded on campus based on their views on Israel, and when Israel is singled out because of anti-Jewish animus.

The strategy also defines antisemitism as “a stereotypical and negative perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred of Jews.”

“It is prejudice, bias, hostility, discrimination, or violence against Jews for being Jews or Jewish institutions or property for being Jewish or perceived as Jewish,” read the strategy and agreement. “Antisemitism can manifest as a form of racial, religious, national origin, and/or ethnic discrimination, bias, or hatred; or, a combination thereof. However, antisemitism is not simply a form of prejudice or hate. It is also a pernicious conspiracy theory that often features myths about Jewish power and control.”

Backed by the US federal state

The agreement coincides with a US  Department of Education Office for Civil Rights resolution of a complaint against the university for antisemitic discrimination.

The OCR and the university came to a resolution agreement for a 2020 complaint that included allegations of frequent swastika graffiti on campus, damaged Jewish religious items, and a brick being thrown through a Jewish fraternity house window.

After reviewing 135 incidents of anti-Jewish discrimination and four incidents of anti-Muslim, anti-Palestinian, or anti-Arab discrimination, the OCR came to the conclusion that the university did not meet its 1964 Civil Rights Act Title VI obligations to assess whether a hostile environment was being created on campus. 

The investigation claimed that the university arms for responding to complaints lacked coordination and inconsistency in the application of policies and procedures, leading to gaps in responses to discrimination.

The university agreed to revise its nondiscrimination policies to ensure that reported incidents were not creating a hostile environment, and policies for law enforcement response to protests to ensure Title VI compliance. The university will also provide training to law enforcement and anti-discrimination staff, and annual training on discrimination to students, staff and faculty.

“The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has now agreed to take the steps necessary to ensure its education community can learn, teach, and work without an unredressed antisemitic hostile environment, or any other hostility related to stereotypes about shared ancestry,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in a statement. “OCR will work with the University in the coming years to ensure its fulfillment of this core federal civil rights guarantee.”