Indiana Offensive Lineman Nick Kidwell To Miss 2024 Season With Injury

James Madison transfer Nick Kidwell was expected to play a key role on Indiana's offensive line in 2024, but instead he will miss the entire season with a knee injury.

Offensive lineman Nick Kidwell (55) transferred from James Madison to Indiana ahead of the 2024 season. / Indiana Athletics

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana offensive lineman Nick Kidwell will miss the 2024 season due to a knee injury.

Kidwell transferred from James Madison to Indiana this offseason, and he was expected to be the Hoosiers' starting right guard in 2024. At 6-foot-5 and 316 pounds, Kidwell appeared in 52 games with 34 starts at James Madison, playing both right tackle and right guard.

Kidwell was named first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association in 2021 and second-team All-Sun Belt in 2022. He was in line to finish his college career at James Madison in 2023, but he suffered a season-ending injury four games into the season. He received a medical hardship waiver, which granted him a seventh season of collegiate eligibility at Indiana in 2024.

"He was one of the best two linemen in the Sun Belt had he stayed healthy last year," Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said of Kidwell.

Following Indiana's first practice of fall camp on July 31, Cignetti mentioned Drew Evans and Bray Lynch as two young lineman that could provide depth for the Hoosiers this season. Evans transferred from Wisconsin to Indiana last season, but he has not played in any games during his two-year college career.

Lynch was a three-star recruit in the class of 2022 out of Austin, Texas, and he has played 71 total snaps in 10 games on the offensive line and special teams across two seasons with the Hoosiers. Kidwell's injury now heightens their importance to Indiana's offensive line.

Indiana returned two starters on its offensive line from last season: Carter Smith and Mike Katic. Smith started all 12 games at left tackle last season, and Katic, who has played 39 games in his Indiana career, moved to center this offseason.

Indiana also added Wisconsin transfer Trey Wedig, who was expected to start at right tackle prior to Kidwell's injury. Tyler Stephens transferred to Indiana this offseason from James Madison, where he appeared in 36 games with 31 starts, playing left tackle, left guard and right tackle. Stephens earned second-team All-Sun Belt honors in 2023 and provides versatility for the Indiana offensive line.

With just over two weeks until Indiana's season opener against Florida International on Aug. 31, offensive line coach Bob Bostad is tasked with finding a new starter in place of Kidwell. On Monday, Cignetti said there was still competition for starting spots on the offensive line, and now Kidwell's injury further ensures that.

But if one thing is certain, Cignetti is confident in Bostad's coaching ability.

“He’s a veteran with a great reputation," Cignetti said on Monday of Bostad. "He really works his guys. He’s a tough guy, Bob is, a little bit old school, which I like. But that’s such a critical position, and it takes a while to mesh in terms of things I’m used to doing or we’re used to doing offensively and in terms of what he’s done, come together, and I like the way that process has gone. He’s a real asset, a winning edge. I know he’s going to get the most out of the offensive line.”

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