Indiana
Nebraska Football Preview: No. 16 Indiana
Fresh off bye weeks and treated to the FOX Big Noon stage, the Nebraska Cornhuskers face their biggest test of the 2024 season with a surprising ranked trip to No. 16 Indiana where they’ll face an upstart Hoosiers squad under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti.
Plenty is on the line for the Huskers who enter the second half of its schedule only one win away from locking up its first bowl berth since 2016. While a loss wouldn’t crater NU’s season, a win over a ranked opponent on the road to kick off a difficult later half of the schedule would do wonders for Nebraska’s confidence in making this season a special one.
But the pressure may be on the Hoosiers who have inspired College Football Playoff talks from the national talking heads after their perfect 6-0 start. Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke is the best quarterback to wear the Cream and Crimson since Michael Penix in 2020, throwing for over 1,700 yards and 14 touchdowns in just six contests.
What awaits him is a Blackshirt unit that’s the only team in the NCAA to not allow a touchdown and are top ten nationally in rushing and scoring defense. A classic may ensue in Bloomington, but first here’s all you need to know ahead of Nebraska’s second trip to Indiana as a member of the Big Ten.
How to Follow Along
Matchup: Nebraska (5-1, 2-1 B1G) at No. 16 Indiana (6-0, 3-0 B1G)
Line: Indiana (-6.5), 50.5 O/U (BetMGM)
Where: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IND
Time: 11 a.m. CDT
TV: FOX
Broadcast Crew: Gus Johnson (PxP), Joel Klatt (Color) & Jenny Taft (Sideline)
Radio: Huskers Radio Network and Affiliates
Indiana Scout
Head Coach: Curt Cignetti | 1st season at Indiana | 125-35 Career HC Record | 2023 Sun Belt Coach OTY, 2017 Colonial Athletic Association Coach OTY | Previous HC stops at IUP (FCS), Elon (FCS) and James Madison (FCS into D1).
2023 Record: 3-9 (1-8 B1G, 7th B1G East) | Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award Winner, One All-B1G First-Team selection (Media), One All-B1G Second Team selection (Coaches), Three All-B1G Third Team members (Coaches & Media), four All-B1G Honorable Mentions | Did not qualify for the postseason.
All-Time Series: Indiana leads 10-9-3 (2022 last meeting, 35-21 NU)
Fun Fact: Saturday’s game will mark the sixth time in the past eight meetings at least one of the teams has been nationally ranked. It will be the first time that both teams have been ranked in at least one of the national polls entering a Nebraska-Indiana matchup. The Huskers are No. 25 in the Coaches Poll. This will only be the fourth matchup between the two schools as members of the Big Ten.
Key Returners: Omar Cooper Jr., WR, R-Soph. | Amare Ferrell, DB, Soph. | Jacob Mangum-Farrar, DL, Gr. | Josh Sanguinetti, DB, Gr. | Lanell Carr Jr., DL, Gr.
Key Additions: Kurtis Rourke, QB, R-Sr. (Ohio) | Justice Ellison, RB, Gr. (Wake Forest) | Ty Son Lawton, RB, Gr. (James Madison) | Elijah Sarratt, WR, Jr. (James Madison) | Myles Price, WR, Gr. (Texas Tech) | Miles Cross, WR, Sr. (Ohio) | Aiden Fisher, LB, Jr. (James Madison) | Jailin Walker, LB, Sr. (James Madison) | Shawn Asbury II, DB, Sr. (Old Dominion) | D’Angelo Ponds, DB, Soph. (James Madison) | Mikail Kamara, DL, R-Jr. (James Madison) | James Carpenter, DL, Gr. (James Madison).
Key Departures: Brendan Sorsby, QB (Cincinnati) | Kahlil Benson, OT (Colorado) | Trent Howland, RB (Oklahoma State) | Jaylin Lucas, RB (Florida State ) | Aaron Casey, LB (NFL) | Andre Carter, DE (NFL) | Kobee Minor, S (Memphis) | Louis Moore, S (Ole Miss) | Phillip Dunnam, DB (FAU) | Matthew Bedford, OL (Oregon) | Zach Carpenter, OL (Miami, FL).
Outlook: Indiana is one of the feel good stories at the midpoint of the wild 2024 college football season as the Hoosiers sit at 6-0 their first start to a season since opening up with eight-straights wins in 1967. But new head coach Curt Cignetti doesn’t want his team to be viewed as a feel-good story, but rather a serious contender to disrupt the hierarchy of the Big Ten and make a run at the inaugural 12-Team College Football Playoff.
Following the firing of previous coach Tom Allen, over three dozen transfers exited the program, scattering around to different Power Four and Group of Five programs across the country. Cignetti, who was on the first staff of Nick Saban at Alabama, went to work on the recruiting trail and transfer portal bringing in 46 players as part of his first recruiting class. That included 30 transfers and over a dozen following him from his previous stop of James Madison, in which he posted a 52-9 (.853) overall record, plus an 11-1 final season mark in 2023.
Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke has used his veteran experience from playing in Maction to become the engine of this nearly unstoppable Hoosier offense. Indiana are tops in the Big Ten and top ten in the country in passing offense (315.3), scoring offense (47.5) and total offense (515.7). He’s been completing over 73% of his passes through six games with a 14-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio.
Nearly the entire offensive skill players have been plucked from the transfer portal with the Hoosier’s three leading rushers as well as the three of the four top receivers coming from different schools including Wake Forest’s Justice Ellison who leads IU with 409 yards on 64 carries with six touchdowns. Ty Son Lawton splits the reps with Ellison racking up 329 yards of his own with seven scores on 68 carries. One of many transfers from James Madison, Elijah Sarratt is the leading receiver as the junior has recorded 513 yards on a team-high 29 catches and a pair of touchdowns. Returning wideout Omar Cooper Jr. has 375 yards and three scores while Texas Tech transfer Myles Price (266 yards) and Ohio transfer Miles Cross (208 yards, two touchdowns) also factoring into the passing game.
The calling card of his coaching style, Allen left behind some defensive gems that Cignetti convinced to stay after the transition. Gone is 2023 sack and tackles for loss leader Aaron Casey to the NFL as well as Andre Carter who posted a pair of sacks and 11 TFL. However, grad student and defensive linemen Lanell Carr Jr. is back after five sacks and 8.5 TFL last year. Mikail Kamara has filled that hole from Casey, garnering a team-high five sacks and 7.5 TFL. James Carpenter has been a menace up front from James Madison corralling four-and-a-half sacks and three TFL from the middle. Another follower from JMU, linebacker Aiden Fisher leads the team with 55 tackles which is 21 more than second-place Jailin Walker (34), who also followed Cignetti.
Granted, all these stats come from a schedule with opponents that have a combined record of 14-22 and no one currently above .500. However, the margin of victory has been extremely lopsided with an average win margin of over 32 points. There is a skill of stomping opponents you should beat, a skill that has escaped the Huskers over the past half decade.
Momentum is riding high for the Hoosiers and a victory Saturday is necessary for their postseason hopes as it seems unlikely for IU to get into the CFP with a 10-2 record and a lackluster schedule. A reasonable path is to split the games against Ohio State and Michigan while winning the rest. So, plenty is at stake Saturday morning for both teams and it’s safe to assume we’ll see play from both sides that reflects that sentiment.
MORE: Stukenholtz: Halfway Home, But Toughest Miles Still Ahead
MORE: Nebraska’s Midterm Exams Begin in the Form of Indiana & Ohio State in Back-to-Back Weeks
MORE: Kicker Remains Out, Cornerback Questionable for Nebraska Against Indiana
MORE: Keys to Victory: Nebraska vs. Indiana
MORE: Joel Klatt Says Dylan Raiola Needs a ‘Real Threat’ at Wideout
Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
Indiana basketball practice observations from June 25: Freshmen mixing in
IU has a game-changer, Thursday’s practice open to the media showed. IndyStar IU insider Zach Osterman explains what he saw.
BLOOMINGTON — Whatever he can.
That’s the answer. The question — one prompted by an urgency to add strength to his game — is what Vaughn Karvala, Indiana basketball’s athletic freshman wing, is doing to add weight. IU’s highest-ranked signee in the 2026 class, it’s not hard to envision a role for Karvala in Darian DeVries’ second season in Bloomington. The player himself knows that starts with meeting the physical demands of the college game.
Which starts with building onto to his 6-foot-7, 190-pound frame.
“The biggest thing for me is just putting on weight,” Karvala told reporters after practice Thursday. “That’s my biggest thing, getting stronger, trying to play with these guys that are three, four years older than me. I have to get stronger, I have to get faster, everything.”
A three-year letter winner at Oregon (Wisconsin) High School, Karvala spent his senior season at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona, bolstering a profile that saw him ranked No. 62 nationally per the 247Sports Composite.
Karvala averaged 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his final season with Oregon, shooting close to 42% from behind the 3-point line. He averaged another 14.7 points per game with Team Herro on the EYBL circuit.
He handed DeVries a major recruiting win last fall, when Karvala picked the Hoosiers over Xavier and Cal. Now, both at the rim and behind the arc, Karvala looks like a player who can contribute meaningfully in his first year in college.
“I know my athleticism catches the eye, but I can still shoot it,” Karvala said. “But another thing is just working on rebounding, trying to get extra possessions for us.”
Whether on the glass or elsewhere, embracing the physical challenge of college basketball has been an emphasis for Karvala since he arrived in Bloomington earlier this summer.
That manifests itself offensively, when he tries to push the ball downhill and leverage that athleticism to attack the rim. It shows up defensively, where Karvala said he’s comfortable guarding the two, the three and, matchup depending, the four.
It even plays out on the glass, battling bigs up to including 7-2 teammate Samet Yigitoglu, who Karvala described with a smile as “the biggest guy I’ve ever seen.”
“Physicality, 100%,” Karvala said, when asked where he’s challenging himself. “Just playing with all these guys that have 20, 30, 40 pounds on me.”
Which starts with the physical demand of more weight. Karvala said he’ll eat chicken, steak or “whatever we have in the locker room” that can help him in that effort. His focus, he said, is simply to “eat a lot, and work out every day.”
As that weight and strength begin to build, Karvala knows the next step — to mentally prepare for the rough-and-tumble nature of life on the floor in the Big Ten — is just as important. Preparing his body comes first. Challenging himself to toughen up once it’s required follows quickly after.
“Just getting fully there, mentally,” he said. “You’re going to have to push your body to get through this.”
Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — It’s fair season and a new law uncorks adult beverage sales!
The new Indiana law will go into effect July 1st, making it legal to sell alcohol at county fairs.
The Kosciusko County Fair is set to kick off in just a few weeks and Indiana is officially allowing alcohol to be sold.
The law is bringing back something that’s not necessarily new to this fair.
Here’s what you need to know
The new law will go into effect on July 1st. It officially allows county fairs to apply for fee-free permits to sell alcohol.
Officials with the Kosciusko County Fair say they are participating this year. They are implementing the same guidelines they used when they sold alcohol just at grandstand events.
The difference now is, you can walk around the grounds with your drink. But strict guidelines will be in place for purchasing a drink.
“Actually, we’ve never had any issues. Because we card everybody, so we take that seriously. We also got the ID guides so we can identify the different types of IDs,” said Sheal Dirck, Treasurer of Kosciusko County Fair.
The Kosciusko County Fair already have guidelines in place, so this was an easy transition for the fair.
They will be the only vendors selling alcohol, which will make it easier to control distribution.
The sales will also bring in more revenue.
“Hopefully it allows to keep our ticket prices where they are because right now, insurance, utilities and everything else is going sky high and it’s hard to make ends meet,” said Dirck.
However, some fairs cannot participate because of the July 1st start date, like the Pulaski County Fair, which is going on right now. Pulaski County officials said it is on the agenda for next year. Whereas other fairs are choosing to sit this year out.
“We wanted not spend some time to, to see what that really means for us. It was not a decision we wanted to rush into. But we are happy for the option of it,” said Shelly Steury, GM of Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds.
Leaders at the St. Joseph County and Elkhart County Fairs said neither of them are selling alcohol.
The Kosciusko County Fair is the only fair that will sell alcohol in our area this year.
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