Indiana

‘Definitely caught my eye’: IU football’s new running backs have impressive spring game

Published

2 years ago

April 19, 2024

‘Definitely caught my eye’: IU football’s new running backs have impressive spring game

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti has expressed confidence in his new-look running back room throughout spring practice.

They rewarded that confidence with a strong showing on Thursday night in the team’s spring game. The offense won 34-25 over the defense in front of fans at Memorial Stadium. The running backs scored two of the team’s five offensive touchdowns.

“I think that group definitely caught my eye,” Cignetti said. “I just think our running back room is faster, more dynamic, good at pass pro, good at catching the ball out of the backfield, can break tackles.”

Last year, Indiana’s rushing offense ranked No. 102 in the country out of 133 FBS teams with 120.1 yards per game. The team’s 3.3 yards per carry ranked even lower (No. 120). The Hoosiers put up pedestrian numbers on the ground going all the way back to the 2018 season.

Cignetti made retooling the running back room one of his top priorities after taking over.

Indiana had four backs with 50-plus carries last year and none of them are still on the roster. Their leading rusher last season Trent Howland was the most recent departure after re-entering the portal during the spring window.

David Holloman, who has 17 career carries, is the only running back still on the team from last season.

While Cignetti told offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan “to throw it 65, 75 percent of the time” on Thursday night, Indiana’s new group of running backs had some standout moments. The game also presented a glimpse at what the rotation will look like come fall.

More: Why Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti followed a new trend during spring practice

‘We have more speed and athleticism back there’

The biggest play early in the game for the first-team offense was a 23-yard run from Kaelon Black.

He bounced it to the outside with a quick lateral move and got a nice block from Myles Price to seal the edge against Amare Ferrell. Josh Sanguinetti completely misjudged Black’s speed and couldn’t do anything as the running back got into the second level. Black finished it off with a spin move to get a few extra yards.

In the second quarter, Black ducked under defensive tackle Robby Harrison’s arm to get through the line of scrimmage and convert a third down. He showed off a quick burst on the next play with a 9-yard gain up the middle.

Black led James Madison last year with 637 yards (4.5 per carry). He forced 18 missed tackles and had 18 runs of 10-yards or more on 133 rushing attempts, according to Pro Football Focus.

A finger injury late in the year limited Black’s touches, but both numbers would still have led all of IU’s running backs last year. He had 11 designed runs go for 15 yards or more while the Hoosiers combined for 14 as a team.

Fellow James Madison transfer Ty Son Lawton also had a nice night.

On his first carry, he showed nice patience going off the left side behind Drew Evans to convert a third and long.

He also prevented the first-team offense from going three and out late in the first quarter. He sidestepped a blitz on third and short and hit the hole for a short gain. Lawton made a nice blitz pick up off the edge on the next play.

One of the best plays of the night for the offense was Lawton’s 15-yard touchdown run at the start of the second quarter. He knocked Sanguinetti back with a stiff arm to get to the outside then lowered his shoulder at the goal line to power past Ferrell.

Black finished the game with a team-high 39 yards on just four carries while Lawton had four carries for 25 yards with a touchdown.

More: Indiana football RB Trent Howland announces plans to transfer ahead of spring game

Indiana’s running back rotation takes shape

Cignetti will likely feature at least three running backs in prominent roles on the offense this fall.

Wake Forest transfer Justice Ellison, who had three carries for 12 yards with a touchdown in the spring game, and Black appear to be the frontrunners to start with Lawton taking over as the team’s primary third down back.

Ellison has the most experience of all IU’s running backs with 43 career games played and 427 carries. He’s rushed for more than 500 yards each of the past three seasons against Power Five competition. He’s averaged 4.5 yards per carry during his career.

“All three of those guys just love football,” Cignetti said, after the game. “They’re football nuts. Tough guys. They’re tough guys.”

North Carolina transfer Elijah Green, who was a late addition out of the portal in the winter, will provide some added depth. He was the Tar Heels starting running back for a six-game stretch at the end of the 2022 season.

He had nine carries for 25 yards and worked with both the first- and second-team offense in the spring game.

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

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Indiana

Retro Indy: Five years ago Covid confined March Madness to Indiana

Published

8 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Retro Indy: Five years ago Covid confined March Madness to Indiana

Just three days before Selection Sunday in March of 2020, the NCAA announced that March Madness, like so many other events that spring, would be cancelled due to the new virus upending life. The decision marked the first time in tournament history that the final weeks of the college basketball season would not be played, squashing Atlanta’s plans to host the Final Four.

When the following year rolled around, the NCAA decided that March Madness would not succumb to the virus once more.

With a vaccine only on the horizon and hundreds of Americans still dying each day, the organization announced in November of 2020 that while the tournament would go on, it would certainly not be business as usual. All 67 games, NCAA officials said, would be held in one location. Central Indiana was the first choice as Indianapolis had been on tap to host the Final Four April 3-5.

The plan, said NCAA senior vice president of basketball Dan Gavitt in a November 2020 IndyStar article was to present “a safe, responsible and fantastic March Madness tournament unlike any other we’ve experienced.”

In January the NCAA made it official: All games would be played in and around Indianapolis in a modified version of a bubble.

Holding the tournament in one place just made sense, NCAA officials told IndyStar. Unlike in a typical year when a winning team would travel multiple times before the championship, this system would minimize travel, which could inadvertently expose players and coaches to the virus.

Two months later when the tournament kicked off on March 18, 55 of the 67 games were scheduled to be played in Indianapolis venues, such as Gainbridge (then Bankers Life) Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indiana Farmers Coliseum and Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse. Purdue’s Mackey Arena and IU’s Assembly Hall also hosted games.

While the first Covid vaccine had arrived a few months earlier, few people outside of first responders and the most vulnerable had been immunized, so in an effort to avoid large crowds, the Indianapolis sites all capped tickets at 25% capacity. That meant only 17,500 people could attend games at the largest venue, Lucas Oil Stadium. The college arenas allowed far smaller audiences, with IU limiting attendance to 500 people.

A week before the tournament began Marion County Public Health Department officials and Mayor Joe Hogsett asked attendees to make smart public health choices, such as social distancing and obeying the face masks mandate. Referees donned masks as much as possible as did coaches and players on the bench.

The NCAA regularly tested athletes, administering 28,311 tests Covid tests during the tournament, 15 of which came back positive.

Post-mortems after the tournament asked whether the NCAA had made the right call. Two high profile deaths occurred in the aftermath of the tournament — one a University of Alabama superfan who had traveled to Indy for the games and the other a St. Elmo bartender. But proving a direct link between their deaths and the tournament would prove impossible, and some public health experts said the NCAA had done everything it could to protect athletes and fans short of canceling the event.

A study conducted by IU, Regenstrief researchers and others that appeared in August 2021 in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that while mask wearing had theoretically been compulsory, about a quarter of attendees at the games were either not wearing masks or doing so inappropriately. Still, in an IndyStar article about the study Indiana Sports Corps president Ryan Vaughn termed the event “a resounding success.”

The following year, with a vaccine widely available and far fewer daily deaths from the virus, the tournament returned to a typical schedule, concluding in New Orleans’ Ceasars Superdome. More than 69,00 fans attended the final games, according to the NCAA. Local authorities had lifted the mask requirement by this point.

“Last year was about survival. Just having championships in any way, single site, keep everybody safe and be successful,” Gavitt said in an NCAA news release in late April 2022. “I think this year was about advancing.”

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Federal legislation that Braun calls ‘crazy’ is aimed at Bears and Indiana – Indianapolis Business Journal

Published

21 hours ago

March 26, 2026

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Federal legislation that Braun calls ‘crazy’ is aimed at Bears and Indiana – Indianapolis Business Journal

U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Greg Casar, D-Texas, say the bill would protect taxpayers from being extorted by team owners for huge subsidies. The legislation would likely face an uphill climb in the Republican-controlled Congress.

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Indiana

Record warmth followed by strong storms tonight | March 26, 2026

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH-TV) – Strong thunderstorms likely later this evening with all severe weather threats possible. It is going to be warm and windy with record highs today. Much cooler air works into Indiana for the end of the week.

TODAY: Partly cloudy conditions later this afternoon with warm and breezy conditions. It is going to be a beautiful and summer-like day across parts of Indiana. We will look for high temperatures to climb into the lower eighties which will set a new daily high record. The record for today is 80 set back in 1907. Winds will be gusty out of the southwest near 20 to 30 mph.

TONIGHT: A cold front approaches the state bringing a really good chance of strong to severe thunderstorms. A few thunderstorms may develop out ahead of the main line and some of those thunderstorms could contain some large hail along with a tornado risk as well. We are under a level 3 risk of strong storms out of a level 5. So there is confidence that a lot of these storms could reach severe criteria. Threats would be damaging winds and large hail. The tornado risk is low across parts of Indianapolis but it is not zero. A slightly higher risk of tornadic activity is possible in northern sections of Indiana.

Heavy rainfall could also lead to some flooding in parts of the state. Areas may see anywhere between 1 to 3 inches of rainfall.

Best timing on the thunderstorm activity will be anytime after 8:00 p.m. and lasting until Friday morning around 4.

TOMORROW: A few early morning rain showers will be possible on Friday. The main weather story is that it will be much cooler. High temperatures will climb around 49 which is below our normal high of 56. Winds switch direction out of the northeast and it will be a bit breezy at times as well. Low temperatures late Friday night into Saturday morning will drop into the upper twenties.

7 DAY EXTENDED FORECAST: A chilly start early Saturday morning but we will see lots of sunshine for the afternoon. High temperatures will climb around 52 for the afternoon.

Cloud cover returns on Sunday but it will be dry for the most part. Look for high temperatures to climb into the lower 60s.

Warmer next week with temperatures reaching the low and even middle and upper 70s by the middle part of the week. A dry start on Monday with some scattered showers possible on Tuesday and Wednesday.