Connect with us

Indiana

LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana’s Football Game Against Western Illinois

Published

on

LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana’s Football Game Against Western Illinois


BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Welcome to the live blog for Indiana’s opening game of the season against Florida International. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. ET.

Game two of the Curt Cignetti features a dreaded FBS vs. FCS contest. Fans of the FBS schools really don’t like these games and I don’t blame them. The only skin in the game is getting a win towards bowl eligibility.

We’ll see what we see from Indiana tonight. I expect a relatively vanilla approach. Cignetti won’t want to put too much on film for UCLA to see for the Big Ten opener next Saturday.

Pregame – Indiana injuries today submitted to the Big Ten for the availability report, all players listed as out: WR Donaven McCulley, CB Jah Jah Boyd, WR E.J. Williams Jr. and TE Brody Kosin. Nothing unexpected and it’s good that RB Kaelon Black is absent from the list.

Advertisement

• Students are starting to fill in a bit now as the pre-game clock hits the 15-minute mark. You can see a large throng of students walking down 17th Street from the press box. Kind of what you’d expect. We’ll see how the rest of the stadium fills out.

• I’ve been to Western Illinois for football many times. Hanson Field is a very quaint stadium. Sort of inside a natural bowl of sorts. It has a good atmosphere. Difficult place to drive to from any direction other than due north, though. Macomb, Ill. is a nice town, but you bank a lot of two-lane highway time to get there.

• Security is very optimistically placed at the top of the student section on the east side of the stadium. With 23 minutes to kickoff? Still plenty of student seats available below the tunnels. The rest of the stadium? Wide open spaces. Not a surprise to me … but I’m not the one who pointed out the habits of the crowd either.

• Fashion report. Indiana in its same default red jerseys, white paints with the regular IU helmet. Western Illinois appears to be in all white.

• It’s overcast at Memorial Stadium with a steady breeze coming from the north. Temperatures have been dropping all day and it should be cool for the majority of the game.

Advertisement

• The two-hour acid test of driving into the parking lot to gauge the crowd? It’s unscientific, but let’s just say I parked about as close to the stadium as my Gate 11 pass allowed me to. Tailgaters were around, but thin on the ground. Now, it’s a Friday game versus a Saturday game and that makes a huge difference, but I just hope Curt Cignetti has appropriately calibrated his expectations of what the crowd will be. It’s just not going to happen in the span of a game or two to change habits that have been ingrained in Indiana football fans for generations.

• Other Big Ten games this weekend: Northwestern hosts Duke at 9 p.m. ET tonight. I happened to be in Chicago earlier this week, and while I was there, I checked out Northwestern’s temporary stadium on Lake Michigan. Interesting joint.

On Saturday, the big game is No. 3 Texas at No. 10 Michigan and there is one Big Ten conference game as Maryland hosts Michigan State. Other games: Bowling Green at No. 8 Penn State; Rhode Island at Minnesota; Akron at Rutgers; Iowa State at No. 21 Iowa; South Dakota at Wisconsin; Eastern Michigan at Washington; No. 19 Kansas at Illinois; Colorado at Nebraska; Western Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State; Boise State at Oregon and Utah State at No. 13 USC.





Source link

Advertisement

Indiana

Is ‘The Bachelorette’ happening? This Carmel contestant weighs in

Published

on

Is ‘The Bachelorette’ happening? This Carmel contestant weighs in


play

Should ABC air the canceled-for-now season of “The Bachelorette”? A Carmel man who was set to compete on it seems to think so.

Matt Carroll, a 43-year-old Purdue basketball alum and Carmel resident, took to social media over the weekend to address the cancelation of season 22 of “The Bachelorette,” on which he appeared. Public opinion on whether the show should see the light of day is split, but the former Boilermaker forward and industrial real estate broker hopes the footage makes it to air.

Advertisement

Disney and ABC pulled season 22 of “The Bachelorette” because its lead, “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Taylor Frankie Paul, faces an ongoing domestic violence investigations. The network announced the decision March 19 after TMZ leaked a video from a 2023 domestic violence incident involving Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen.

Neither Carroll nor the show have officially commented on the cancelation, but that doesn’t mean he and other contestants haven’t hinted at their feelings on social media.

Carroll’s Instagram reel — in which he struts through the streets of Carmel, rose in hand, RAYE’s “Where the Hell is My Husband” soundtracking it all — breaks the ice. “So…about that,” he joked, tagging both “The Bachelorette” and Bachelor Nation, the franchise’s official hub for news and content.

The reel has garnered comments from fellow Carmel residents wishing Carroll well, even offering to set him up with local singles. Notably, though, some of Carroll’s followers have called for the season to air — and he agrees.

Advertisement

“Trying to manifest that they still air this,” one comment from model Brittany Mason reads. “America wants it the world wants it!”

“From your lips to God’s ears,” Carroll replied.

Another response from him put it more plainly:

Advertisement

“I’m still hoping they decide to air it.”

Whether “The Bachelorette” will air is unclear. Disney Entertainment Television’s official statement only indicated that it was halting the season “for now,” so it’s possible the network could dust off the footage and air it after all.

Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@indystar.com. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Indiana

Game times announced for Saturday’s Final Four in Indianapolis

Published

on

Game times announced for Saturday’s Final Four in Indianapolis


INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament’s Final Four is set.

Four teams have advanced to the Final Four and will compete for the national championship this upcoming weekend in Indianapolis.

The two national semifinal matchups will take place on Saturday. Tip times for the two games have been announced:

  • 6:09 p.m. EDT – No. 3 seed Illinois vs. No. 2 seed UConn
  • 8:49 p.m. EDT – No. 1 seed Michigan vs. No. 1 seed Arizona

The winners of Saturday’s games will then play in the National Championship Game on Monday, April 6.

Each game will take place inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Indiana

Hundreds gather at Indiana State Capitol for ‘No Kings’ protest

Published

on

Hundreds gather at Indiana State Capitol for ‘No Kings’ protest


INDIANAPOLIS — Hundreds of Hoosiers gathered at the Indiana Statehouse Saturday morning as part of nationwide ‘No Kings’ events to voice their concerns about the current administration.

WATCH FULL STORY BELOW

Hundreds gather at Indiana State Capitol for ‘No Kings’ protest

Advertisement

“I’m out here today because what’s happening in our government is completely trash,” Donna Sipes told WRTV. “It’s wrong. We need to do something about it.”

“I’m tired of every single day when the TV comes on to see what stupid thing he’s done next,” Lindi Marti said.

WRTV

Attendees noted the growing popularity of the demonstrations.

Advertisement

“This is my fourth one to come to. I didn’t come to all of them when it was really cold, but I’m glad to see that they are getting a lot more people out here every time,” Marti added. “It seems like there’s more and more coming.”

Demonstrators highlighted specific foreign policy concerns, including the administration’s handling of the war in Iran.

“We’re bombing the heck out of them. We’re killing civilians,” Marti’s husband said. “We’re getting ready to send our Marines.”

Screenshot 2026-03-28 at 4.38.20 PM.png

WRTV

Others focused on the administration’s handling of immigration.

Advertisement

“That’s what I’m concerned about,” Reverend Kenny Little told WRTV. “Little kids, they’re taking them away from their family. And I’m just one of those people, I think everyone got rights.”

Indiana medical students also attended the rally to speak out against changes to the healthcare system.

“We’re really worried about the attacks on the health care system in general, but with Medicaid… current estimates range from anywhere from 325,000 to 450,000 Hoosiers will lose coverage by 2032,” Wade Catt said with concern.

Poster image - 2026-03-28T202405.362.jpg

WRTV

With midterm elections approaching later this year, attendees emphasized the importance of now taking action at the ballot box.

Advertisement

“If we don’t vote, then things are gonna not, they’re gonna stay the same,” a protester said.

Meanwhile, Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith says he’s happy to see Hoosiers exercise their First Amendment right to protest.

However, he takes issue with the idea that President Trump is acting like a king. Beckwith says the fact that people have the freedom to protest is proof that the president is not acting like a tyrant.

He acknowledges that bridging the gap between the sides is probably an uphill battle, but believes communication is key.

“I think when you sit down with people face to face, you’re confronted with humanity. There’s another human sitting across that table from you and talking to you. And so, all I have to say, I think that’s probably the thing I would encourage all Hoosiers to do is say, ‘Hey, if you don’t agree with somebody or if you don’t like somebody, why don’t you try grabbing coffee with them? And give it 30 minutes, and just see what happens.’ I bet most of the time people will walk away with a much softer heart and spirit towards that person before they came in,” Beckwith said.

Advertisement

Beckwith is currently on a 92-county tour of the state. He says all sides are welcome to attend his events.

__





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending