How To Watch Indiana Football Week 2 Against The Western Illinois Leathernecks

Indiana football continues the 2024 season against the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Friday at 7 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. Here's how to watch, with game time and TV information, the latest on the point spread, series history, coaching information and more.

Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. (3) runs after the catch during the first half of the Indiana versus Florida International football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Friday night lights take on a different meaning as Indiana football hosts Western Illinois at 7 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium.

College football Fridays are relatively new and still controversial for some, but this is the third straight season the Hoosiers have hosted a Friday night game. Friday’s game will be the seventh Friday night game in Indiana’s history.

Indiana (1-0) got off to a positive start in Curt Cignetti’s debut as coach with a 31-7 victory over Florida International Saturday. The Hoosiers were in control from the time they took a 21-0 lead and came out of the opener relatively injury-free. Running back Kaelon Black and wide receiver Donaven McCulley suffered the only injuries Cignetti has revealed. They are both day-to-day entering Friday’s contest.

On the other sideline, Western Illinois (0-1) will try to end a 25-game losing streak, one extended with a 54-15 loss at Northern Illinois Saturday. The Leathernecks last won on Oct, 30, 2021 – a 38-31 victory over Illinois State. Western Illinois has not played within a touchdown of an opponent in nine games, a stretch dating to a 43-40 loss to Lindenwood on Sept. 16, 2023.

The last time Western Illinois played a Big Ten team, Minnesota prevailed 62-10 in 2022. Western Illinois last defeated a FBS team in 2016 when it defeated Northern Illinois 28-23.

• *** LIVE BLOG: And once the game starts, follow all the action on our live blog written by Todd Golden. To check that out, CLICK HERE.

How to watch Indiana vs. Western Illinois

• Who: Indiana Hoosiers (1-0) vs. Western Illinois (0-1).

• What: Second game of the season for both teams.

• When: 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 6.

• Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind.

• TV: Big Ten Network.

• Announcers: Lisa Byington (play-by-play), Jeremy ‘J’ Leman (analyst), Melanie Ricks (sideline).

• Live Stream: fuboTV (start your free trial).

• Radio: Indiana Hoosiers Sports Network, Sirius XM (channel 121 or 197).

• Radio Announcers: Don Fischer (play-by-play), Buck Suhr (analyst), John Herrick.

• Point spread: Indiana is a 42.5-point favorite in the Friday morning line, and the over/under is 52.5 points, according to the Fan Duel Sportsbook.

• Last season's records: Indiana went 3-9 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten, including wins over Indiana State, Akron and Wisconsin. WIU went 0-11 overall and 0-8 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. WIU has since moved to the Ohio Valley Conference, which does a football-only merger with the Big South Conference, the Big South-OVC.

• Last games: Indiana defeated Florida International 31-7 and Western Illinois lost 54-15 at Northern Illinois on Aug. 31.

• Series history: First meeting.

• Weather: According to weather.com, it’s going to be 74 degrees and partly cloudy with a 19% chance of rain and north wind at 11 miles per hour at 7 p.m. ET in Bloomington, Ind.

Meet the Coaches

• Joe Davis, Western Illinois: Davis is in his first season at Western Illinois with an 0-1 record. Prior to Western Illinois, Davis was the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach at Eastern Illinois from 2022-23. From 2018-21, he was associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Albany. Prior to that, Davis had assistant coaching stints at Fordham, Northern Iowa, Shippensburg, Wheaton College, Wayne State and North Park University. Davis played collegiately at Division III Adrian College.

• Curt Cignetti, Indiana: Cignetti (1-0 at Indiana) enters his first season at Indiana after a five-year run at James Madison with a 52-9 overall record. During his first three seasons at James Madison, the Dukes reached the FCS national championship once and the semifinals twice. After moving up to the FBS, they went 19-4 under Cignetti. Prior to JMU, he had a 14-9 record in two seasons at Elon and a 53-17 record in six seasons at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Before becoming a head coach, he was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban from 2007-10 and held various assistant coaching positions at NC State from 2000-06. Other previous stops include Pittsburgh, Temple, Rice and Davidson. Cignetti played quarterback at West Virginia from 1979-82. His father, Frank, is in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Stories related to Indiana football

• MEET THE OPPONENT: Struggling Western Illinois comes to Memorial Stadium to try to shake off a long losing streak. CLICK HERE.

• WHY PLAY FCS TEAMS? Indiana plays Western Illinois on Friday. Why do the Hoosiers, and so many other Big Ten teams, play FCS teams? An explainer. CLICK HERE.

• CIGNETTI COMMENTS FROM RADIO SHOW: Curt Cignetti's highlights from his weekly radio show. CLICK HERE.

• PREDICTIONS AND 3 KEYS FOR WESTERN ILLINOIS GAME: Read about our predictions and three keys for Indiana to prevail against Western Illinois on Friday. CLICK HERE.