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Everything you need to know about Indiana football’s 2024 spring game

Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times
·4 min read

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football fans will get their first glimpse at the Curt Cignetti era on Thursday night.

The Hoosiers will wrap up spring practice with a scrimmage at Memorial Stadium. It will be the program’s first spring exhibition game since the 2019 season.

It’s a much different looking roster than the one fans saw at the end of last season with more than two dozen new faces.

Here’s what you need to know:

Indiana football’s spring game format

Indiana is keeping the same format Cignetti used at James Madison of the offense facing off against defense. The game will feature two 15-minute quarters and have the following scoring system:

  • Touchdown - 6 points

  • Extra Point - 1 point

  • Field Goal - 3 points

  • Turnover Gained - 4 points

  • Defensive Stop - 3 points

  • Safety - 2 points

According to a release IU put out, the offense will wear red uniforms and be located on the stadium’s west sideline. The defense will wear white uniforms and be on the east sideline.

Indiana football players to watch

  • Kurtis Rourke: The former MAC offensive player of the year has taken center stage in the quarterback competition, which isn’t much of a surprise given his extensive experience. He won’t go live — none of the quarterbacks will — but seeing him work alongside the rest of the first-team offense will offers fans a glimpse of what this offense could like this fall.

  • Mikail Kamara: Kamara wasn’t lacking confidence when he spoke to reporters this week. The new staff brought him over from JMU hoping he would build on the breakout season he had a year ago. Indiana offensive linemen say he’s been a wrecking ball during spring camp. It’s been awhile since the Hoosiers had an impactful pass rusher like that.

  • Aiden Fisher: Indiana’s linebacker room might have been the most consistent position group under the previous staff. Fisher, another JMU transplant, is looking to replace Aaron Casey, a fan favorite who was a strong presence in the middle of the defense last year. Fisher filled up the stat sheet for JMU last season in his first year as a full-time starter.

  • Donaven McCulley: Indiana coach Curt Cignetti hasn’t been shy about publicly challenging the returning players that he feels aren’t performing up to his lofty standards. McCulley was one of those players with Cignetti saying IU’s star receiver needed to “pick it up a little bit.” Fans were hoping the 6-foot-5, 203-pounder would pick up where he left off last year as one of the few bright spots on the offense. The spring game will give him a chance to prove he’s ready to do just that.

Three questions for Indiana football’s spring game

What will this secondary look like? Indiana has a group of five defensive backs that — Kobee Minor, Jamari Sharpe, Nic Toomer, Terry Jones and Shawn Asbury — that account for much of the experience at the position. Toomer has moved over to safety and worked alongside Jones and Asbury, a pair of transfers out of Old Dominion, during camp. The new staff obviously had some concerns about the level of depth having recently signed FCS All-American corner Cedarius Doss. Indiana allowed 262.2 pass yards per game last year against Power Five opponents. If the group can’t improve, it will put a lot of pressure on the offense to perform at a high-level right out of the gate.

Who will break out from the pack at running back? Indiana’s new staff loaded up on skill players in the transfer portal after taking over. They signed four experienced running backs including JMU’s top two leading rushers (Kaelon Black and Ty Son Lawton) from last year. Trent Howland, IU’s leading rusher last year, was also in the mix until he recently re-entered the transfer portal. The group isn’t lacking experience, but is there a breakout candidate among the bunch? Which back does the new staff prefer in the passing game? Who is the best pass protector? The spring game could provide some early answers.

Will Indiana’s offense produce some fireworks? Indiana fans had to suffer through some ugly offense (and poor quarterback play) in recent years and Cignetti was brought in to change all that. It’s too soon to expect miracles, but the coaching staff’s cohesive approach — something lacking from the previous regime — should make for a better product on the field. A few productive drives by the first-team offense would give the group some momentum going into the summer months.

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

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Previewing Indiana football's 2024 spring game