Ten weeks into the college football season, Indiana has been the team everyone is trying — and failing — to figure out.
The Hoosiers are one of the most balanced teams in the country, blending a dynamic offense with a defense that’s as disciplined as it is opportunistic. They’ve cruised to an impressive 9-0 start, leaving college football fans across the nation asking the same question: Is there anyone who can stop the Hoosiers?
Meanwhile, Penn State is navigating a different storyline. With Terry Smith stepping in as interim coach, the Nittany Lions are searching for stability and identity while trying to close out the season on a positive note.
This week, FOX Sports college football writers Laken Litman, Michael Cohen and RJ Young weigh in on this weekend’s “Big Noon Saturday” showdown between Indiana and Penn State.
1. Indiana has proven to be one of the most balanced teams in the country. Is there any area where you see a flaw with this team? What type of team, if any, is likely to hand the Hoosiers their first loss of the season?
RJ Young: Indiana hasn’t been tested in the deep end yet. In the nine games of the Curt Cignetti era this season, the Hoosiers have played just one true nail-biter. Cignetti knows how to win tight contests — back in 2017 at Elon, he navigated eight straight one-score games and came out on top every time.
This season, however, IU has mostly cruised. The only time they’ve faced late-game pressure was against Iowa, where Phil Parker and his Hawkeyes brought the kind of relentless blitzing that makes quarterbacks sweat. Iowa sent defenders from every angle — linebackers, safeties, you name it — forcing Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza to move faster than ever just to stay upright.
That’s what it’s going to take to stop Indiana from running up the score and cutting through your defense like Thanos with the gauntlet. You’re going to have to bring the house, and Cignetti knows it.
“We’ve been getting some house blitz this season. Started with ODU, Kennesaw (State) a little bit, Indiana State quite a bit early in the game,” Cignetti said after Indiana’s narrow 20-15 win against Iowa. “Coaches and offensive coordinator quarterbacks, they hate seven-man slide protection, three-man routes, no running backs on check downs. It just doesn’t look real pretty on the blackboard, you know what I’m saying? But when you get those kinds of blitzes, that’s what you’ve got to be in.”
Get used to seven-man slide protections. Running backs will get lit up by linebackers and safeties raining down from the second and third levels. Wide receivers will have to win 1-on-1s early and often. And your QB? He’ll need to release the ball in a flash — or face getting demolished.
Yes, the Hoosiers are talented. Yes, they can jump out to a lead and dominate. But can they claw their way out of a hole against an elite opponent ready to throw everything at them? That’s the question that will define their first real test.
Until then, let’s see what happens when a team with equal talent decides to neutralize your advantage — and just lights you up… all game long.
Roman Hemby rushes for a 13-yard TD to give Indiana a 28-0 lead over UCLA
Michael Cohen: It’s difficult to identify many weaknesses in a team that ranks among the top 10 nationally in scoring offense (first), scoring defense (third), total offense (third), total defense (seventh), offensive third-down conversion rate (first), defensive third-down conversion rate (second), offensive red zone touchdown rate (10th), defensive red zone touchdown rate (first), turnover margin (t-first), takeaways (t-sixth) and FEI special teams ratings (seventh).
That kind of high-level execution and stunning consistency across the board, in all three phases, is why Indiana’s coaching staff deserves to be considered among the best in the country. Not only will head coach Curt Cignetti be in the mix for the same cornucopia of national awards he pocketed last season while leading the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history, an incredible accomplishment at a place like Indiana, but both of his coordinators — Mike Shanahan on offense; Bryant Haines on defense — would be worthy recipients of the Broyles Award given to the sport’s top assistant coach. They’re likely to garner wide-ranging consideration in this year’s coaching carousel, too.
Perhaps the only legitimate area of concern is depth at wide receiver, where the Hoosiers are incredibly reliant on their high-level starters and might not have enough quality reserves to withstand significant injuries — should any arise across what could be a 16-game season.
At wide receiver, the tandem of Elijah Sarratt (45 catches, 609 yards, 10 TDs) and Omar Cooper Jr. (46 catches, 669 yards, 8 TDs) might be the best perimeter duo in the country outside of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate at Ohio State. And No. 3 wideout E.J. Williams Jr., who has 26 catches for 336 yards and five touchdowns, is an excellent complementary piece and potential matchup problem at 6-foot-4, 203 pounds. But those are the only three receivers on Indiana’s roster with more than 10 receptions this season, and it’s fair to question the caliber of reserve behind them given the relative freshness of Cignetti’s rebuild.
Sarratt, who entered Saturday’s game against Maryland with an undisclosed injury that had been bothering him for the last two weeks, dropped out with a new ailment when he began experiencing hamstring tightness. It’s something to watch moving forward.
Wide receiver Elijah Sarratt #13 of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrates with fans after the matchup against Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
Laken Litman: If Nick Saban were answering this question, perhaps he’d say “rat poison.” That’s his famous phrase often used in reference to external praise and hype that can seep into a team’s locker room and cause distractions. At Alabama, Saban used to warn his players of such poison and strongly encourage them to ignore it.
That kind of advice would serve this Indiana team well. That’s because with the way this team has been playing, there are no glaring weaknesses. The Hoosiers lead the nation in all kinds of categories across all three phases, including being No. 1 in scoring offense (46.4 points per game) and third in scoring defense (10.8 ppg). Indiana’s remaining regular-season schedule includes matchups against Penn State, Wisconsin and Purdue. With the way coach Curt Cignetti has this team playing, it would be shocking for the Hoosiers not to be undefeated entering the Big Ten championship game against fellow unbeaten Ohio State.
Additionally, Indiana is the No. 2 team in the country and projected to earn a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. Should the Hoosiers read into all of that, they could easily overlook one of these final conference opponents. It’s happened to the best of teams in the past, and can often be even easier when you haven’t experienced much adversity in a season. Cignetti doesn’t seem like the type of coach to let his guys falter this close to achieving their goals.
But avoiding the rat poison will be key for Indiana down the stretch.
2. What are the top characteristics Penn State should be looking for in its next head coach, and what will define success for interim coach Terry Smith over the final four games of the season?
Laken Litman: The biggest thing that haunted James Franklin was Penn State’s inability to win big games during his tenure. This season was no different. The Nittany Lions were a hot pick to win the national championship this year and were highly ranked to start the season. Then, in late September, then-No. 6 Oregon came into Happy Valley and beat then-No. 3 Penn State, 30-24. Things got worse from there with Penn State inexplicably losing to UCLA and Northwestern, and quarterback Drew Allar suffering a season-ending injury. Franklin was finished after that. And since his firing, the team has yet to recover and win a game.
It would behoove the next Penn State coach, whoever it might be, to have experience playing in and winning big games. Athletic director Pat Kraft acknowledged that Franklin’s 4-21 record against AP top 10 teams, including 1-18 against top-10 Big Ten teams, in his 11-plus year career in State College factored into the decision to fire him.
Meanwhile, interim coach Terry Smith has an opportunity on his hands. Penn State has four games left. This weekend it hosts red hot Indiana, the No. 2 team in the country. Then it will finish the season at Michigan State, hosting Nebraska and at Rutgers. In order to make a bowl, Smith would have to figure out a way to get his guys to win three of the four games. That seems like a tough ask, especially with Allar out and redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer playing in his stead. Despite the quarterback situation, the Nittany Lions still have loads of talent. And it would be tragic if a team that played in the CFP semifinal this calendar year didn’t even make a bowl game.
Interim head coach Terry Smith of the Penn State Nittany Lions is seen in action during the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)
RJ Young: I could give a few names to investigate:
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin will turn your QB into a Heisman contender. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney will build you a winner. Former LSU coach Brian Kelly will get you a foot closer to a national title than James Franklin did.
I could give you a couple of names you aren’t willing to take a hard look at:
Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson, Sr., who coached in Happy Valley for 18 years and has created his very own defensive line factory. Or North Texas coach Eric Morris, who saw Cam Ward running the run-heavy Wing-T offense at West Columbia High School while coaching at FCS Incarnate Word and developed Ward into the kind of QB who became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
But that doesn’t begin to cover who you should hire. So let’s K.I.S.S. the question, Pat.
Hire a winner.
Hire a coach who doesn’t know what it’s like to not get it done. Hire a coach who knows players win games.
Hire a coach who isn’t the least bit flummoxed by figuring out how to move in a world overrun by chaos, playoffs and money. Hire a coach who recognizes reporters, columnists, talk show hosts and hustling kids with a Tumblr are working their behinds off to tell good stories about your team, willing to extend a strong and informed opinion about what the Nittany Lions are doing in November and Easter Sunday.
Hire a person who feels the pressure of one of the prized jobs in his profession and professes his affinity and loyalty for the Penn State alumni and administrators by simply pointing to the scoreboard and getting right back to work to go win the next one.
Hire a person who understands their football team will take on their characteristics, their traits and even their idiosyncrasies — good and bad.
Hire a person who can’t wait to tell the world how proud they are of their staff and their players. Hire a man who refuses to take credit because he knows that part is already understood. Hire a coach who is at work while you’re asleep, has a new story to tell willing donors and a dream to share that players believe.
Hire that coach, Pat.
As for Terry Smith, fixing anything you didn’t build is as difficult as pushing Sisyphus’ Boulder. Your only hope is that the road ahead turns out to be flat where his was not. Do the best you can with what you’ve got, Terry. The rest isn’t up to you.
Michael Cohen: The characteristic that Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft should prioritize at, or near, the top of his list when selecting the program’s next head coach is finding someone with a track record of high-level quarterback development. Though James Franklin played quarterback himself and was an offensive coordinator by trade before he became a head coach, the Nittany Lions never found a truly elite quarterback during his tenure.
Drew Allar, a former five-star recruit and the No. 1 signal-caller in the 247Sports rankings for the 2022 cycle, was supposed to give Penn State a transformative presence at the game’s most important position after years of good-not-great production from players like Sean Clifford, Trace McSorley and Christian Hackenberg. But much like his head coach, whose record in marquee games suggested Franklin wasn’t quite skilled enough to get Penn State over the top, Allar always seemed to stumble in the biggest moments against the best opponents. That Allar’s production in 2025, his third year as Penn State’s starter, pointed toward significant regression in several key areas before he suffered a season-ending injury against Northwestern was particularly alarming — both for Allar himself and for Franklin’s reputation as a talent developer.
The top of the latest AP Poll indicates just how crucial a skill quarterback whispering is for elite head coaches: Ryan Day at Ohio State, Curt Cignetti at Indiana, Kalen DeBoer at Alabama and Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss are all considered excellent stewards for that position.
As for interim coach Terry Smith, who will oversee a home game this weekend for the first time since taking Franklin’s spot, lifting the Nittany Lions to bowl eligibility would be considered a remarkable achievement considering where Penn State sits at 3-5 overall. The Nittany Lions need to win three of their four remaining games against No. 2 Indiana (home), Michigan State (away), Nebraska (home) and Rutgers (away). Doing that without Allar, whose replacement, redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer, has played poorly in his first two starts, might be an impossible task. But for a roster this talented to miss the postseason entirely could only be viewed as a catastrophic failure.
Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She is the author of “Strong Like a Woman,” published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him @RJ_Young.
Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him @Michael_Cohen13.
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