After recording its largest margin of victory in a Big Ten road game since 2001, Indiana football (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) hosts Charlotte (1-2, 0-0 American) in its final non-conference game of the season at noon Saturday. The Hoosiers, led by reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Kurtis Rourke at quarterback, are off to a red-hot start this season.
They have outscored their opponents 150-23 through three games utilizing a balanced offensive attack, averaging over 220 rushing yards and 288 passing yards per game. Justice Ellison leads Hoosier running backs with 234 yards and is averaging eight yards per attempt, which ranks third in the Big Ten behind Penn State’s Nicholas Singleton and Rutgers’ Kyle Monangai. Ty Son Lawton, Elijah Green and Kaelon Black have all taken substantial snaps in the backfield as well.
Omar Cooper Jr., Elijah Sarratt and Myles Price have all been targeted more than 10 times by Rourke, but Indiana’s receiving core is deep — six different receivers have caught a touchdown pass this season. Cooper and Ke’Shawn Williams lead the team with two touchdown snags each, and both hauled in touchdown passes in Indiana’s 42-13 win over UCLA in Pasadena on Sept. 14.
For the first time since at least 1996, the Hoosiers have gone three consecutive games without committing a turnover, currently touting a turnover margin of +6. Linebacker Aiden Fisher, one of 13 players to follow head coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana, leads Hoosier defenders with 30 tackles, which is 12 more than second-place linebacker Jailin Walker, who also transferred from JMU to Indiana.
“It’s kind of like playing with a veteran quarterback on offense,” Cignetti said Sept. 16. “Both guys know the defense and they’re used to playing with each other.”
Defensive backs such as Amare Ferrell, Shawn Asbury II and Josh Sanguinetti have been instrumental in holding opposing quarterbacks to fewer than 130 yards per game, Indiana’s defensive front has been equally stout. The Hoosiers are allowing under 54 rushing yards per game and just two rushing yards per attempt. A key piece of the puzzle up front is redshirt junior defensive lineman Mikail Kamara, who leads the team with three sacks and two quarterback hits.
“He’s been healthy,” Cignetti said. “Early in his career, he had a couple injuries. Now that he’s been on the field, he’s gotten better every year. He’s smart, he’s crafty and he plays really hard.”
Charlotte was behind the eight-ball before the season even started. Second-year head coach Biff Poggi, who went 3-9 in his first campaign, admitted in August that nearly half of the team’s starters would miss the season opener versus JMU, which Charlotte lost at home by 23 points.
The 49ers are still reeling from the injury bug — week one starting quarterback Max Brown, who transferred to Charlotte after two seasons at Florida, had a slow start to the season and left the 49ers’ week two loss at North Carolina with what Poggi called a “fairly serious” thumb injury.
True freshman Deshawn Purdie finished that game and started the next game against FCS Gardner-Webb, but he was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter after throwing for under 200 yards with no touchdowns, an interception and three fumbles, two of which were recovered by Gardner-Webb. He also took six sacks, losing 82 yards.
Walk-on redshirt junior Trexler Ivey led a 14-point fourth quarter comeback, escaping with the win after the Bulldogs cut Charlotte’s lead to one point in the final two minutes of the game but the go-ahead two-point conversion failed. Ivey was near-perfect, completing 11 of 12 passing attempts for 142 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions off the bench against Gardner-Webb.
“We’ll prepare for both (quarterbacks) schematically,” Cignetti said. “(Purdie) has more of a live arm and more mobility, but (Ivey) has the experience and moxie. It won’t affect our game plan a whole lot.”
Cignetti cited wide receiver Jarius Mack and tight end Colin Weber as impact players on the Charlotte offense — along with wideout Sean Brown, Mack and Weber have racked up over 140 receiving yards this season. Charlotte’s rushing attack is led by Terron Kellman and Hahsaun Wilson, who split the majority of snaps. Cartevious Norton is used in short-yardage situations. Nine different 49ers have recorded multiple tackles for loss, led by linebacker Reid Williford with four. Defensive lineman Stephen Sings V has recorded a sack in the team’s last two games.
Indiana ranks 19th in ESPN’s Football Power Index while Charlotte ranks 128th out of 134 teams, falling six spots after its narrow win over Gardner-Webb (for comparison, FIU, whom Indiana beat 31-7 in week one, is 106th). With temperatures expected to reach the mid-80s during the game, it could be a long day for Charlotte.
Indiana is looking to improve to 4-0 before Maryland, a top-30 team in the FPI, visits Bloomington on Sept. 28. The Hoosiers’ non-conference game against the 49ers kicks off at noon Saturday and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network, the Indiana Sports Radio Network and WIUX Sports.
