Hoosiers Now

LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Football Game Against Florida International

Welcome to our live blog for Indiana versus FIU, where we'll keep you updated with all the news and views in real time, with opinion and highlights thrown in as well, live from Memorial Stadium.

Todd Golden

Indiana's Andison Coby (0) celebrates Miles Cross (19) during the first half of the Indiana versus Florida International football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.
Indiana's Andison Coby (0) celebrates Miles Cross (19) 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
In this story:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Welcome to the live blog for Indiana's opening game of the season against Florida International. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Welcome to our live blog, where we'll keep you updated with all the news and views in real time, with opinion and highlights thrown in as well, live from Memorial Stadium.

It's the beginning of the Curt Cignetti era. It seems like the runway has been long to get things going for real. Finally time for takeoff.

FINAL: Indiana 31, Florida International 7 - For the first time since 2015, Indiana opened the season with a nonconference opponent at home (hard to believe), and the Hoosiers get the job done. Indiana takes a 1-0 record into next Friday's game against FCS Western Illinois. Kickoff is 7 p.m. ET. Join us next week in the live blog and thanks for reading!

Indiana 31-7, 1:06 4Q. - A weird scoring series. On the first play, a bad snap sent Indiana backwards 12 yards. One play later, Green got his long touchdown run. Green will end up being Indiana's leading rusher as he has 82 yards on five carries, all of it gained in the fourth quarter.

Touchdown Indiana. Elijah Green busts free for a 51-yard touchdown run with 1:06 left in the game.

Indiana 24-7, 2:00 4Q. - Reserves in for both teams so we're close to being done here. Really solid, if unspectacular, performance from Indiana. No drama to speak of, really, in a good or a bad way. That sounds like a criticism, but it's not. That's how solid football teams get the job done.

Indiana 24-7, 5:26 4Q. - Marcus Burris Jr. had a sack to highlight an Indiana defensive series that kept the Panthers in their own territory. FIU went for it on 4th-and-19 and tried to sell a lateral pass off an incompletion that no one was buying. UPDATE: Play was reviewed and FIU was granted the distance (though it wasn't long enough to convert the fourth down) for the catch. That shocks me. In no way did that look like a completion watching it live. Either way, Indiana's ball at midfield.

Should be cruise control for the Hoosiers from here to the end. One thing Curt Cignetti won't be pleased about is Indiana's penalties. He takes pride in his teams being penalty-free. So far, Indiana has had eight penalties that have cost 70 yards. Hasn't mattered much in this game, but of course, it will in a closer contest.

Indiana 24-7, 9:06 4Q. - Not really any surprising contributors so far. Ty Son Lawton (74) and Justice Ellison (68) have rushed for the kind of yards you'd expect. Myles Price has 4 catches for 29 yards and the other Kurtis Rourke passes have been sprayed around to Indiana's many targets. Rourke himself has been solid, though not spectacular. He's completed 15 of 22 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown pass.

Aiden Fisher (9 tackles) and Jailin Walker (8 tackles) have been steady as expected. Safety Shawn Asbury II has been good with 6 tackles. Corner D'Angelo Ponds also has 6 tackles. The only mystery at this point is what's happened with wide receiver Donaven McCulley, who had one first-half catch and who hasn't been seen since.

Indiana 24-7, 10:58 4Q. - FIU got into Indiana territory, but on a tipped pass, Amare Ferrell picked off a Keyone Jenkins pass intended for Dean Patterson. Ferrell returned it to the FIU 46. What little flicker of hope the Panthers might have had if they had scored if snuffed out as Ferrell was given a big reception from his teammates on the sideline.

End 3rd quarter, Indiana 24, Florida International 7. Yeah, it's only a 17-point lead, but the Hoosiers have not really been threatened at any point in this game.

Indiana 24-7, :17 3Q. - Indiana coach Curt Cignetti really annoyed with how the Hoosiers' most recent offensive series ended. On 3rd-and-4 from their own 39, Indiana was called for a holding penalty. That got Cignetti gesturing at his own players. Then, before another snap, Indiana was called for delay of game. Cignetti walked the length of the Indiana bench, down to the south end of the IU sideline, clearly irritated by the self-inflicted wounds. World class punter James Evans - rarely seen today - uncorked a belter to pin FIU at its own 20.

Indiana 24-7, 4:12 3Q. - Excellent series for the Indiana defense as the Panthers went backwards nine yards. Previously quiet defensive end Mikail Kamara and fellow edge rusher Lanell Carr Jr. put pressure on FIU quarterback Keyone Jenkins on a 3rd-and-12 play with Carr getting credit for a sack. FIU is averaging 3.1 yards per play. Indiana takes over at its own 20.

Indiana 24-7, 5:51 3Q. - Indiana has put together some long scoring drives today. This one, a 13-play, 68-yard series, ends in a 35-yard field goal by Nicolas Radicic, who passes his first test having responsibility on place kicks. Indiana probably should have had a touchdown, but on a halfback option pass from the FIU 17-yard line, Ty Son Lawton provided some comedy with a woefully underthrown ball to Omar Cooper Jr. On a bit of a more serious note, not seen on the field during the Indiana series was wide receiver Donaven McCulley.

Indiana 21-7, 9:11 3Q. - Former Indiana defensive lineman Jeramy Passmore got himself a sack on his old home field. A highlight for him, but Indiana is moving the ball and is in FIU territory.

Indiana 21-7, 12:17 3Q. - At its peak, about three sections worth of Memorial Stadium was packed with students, but they bailed in a big way at halftime. Still a game, so kind of surprising. Indiana's defense held FIU on its first series, though FIU QB Keyone Jenkins is playing with more confidence. He converted one third down before Indiana CB D'Angelo Ponds broke up a pass later in the series on third down. Indiana will begin its first series of the second half at its own 15.

Halftime: Indiana 21, Florida International 7 - Touchdown for FIU in the final minute of the half is a bit of a downer for Indiana, but the Hoosiers have been in control for the majority of the game. Indiana has a 243-102 advantage in total yards and the Hoosiers have converted 4 of 5 on third down. Hoosiers have averaged 6.1 yards per play.

Indiana 21-7, :48 2Q. - The last thing Indiana wanted was for Keyone Jenkins to get into a rhythm before halftime, but that's just what he did. Jenkins completed 5 of 6 passes on FIU's 12-play, 75-yard scoring series. Not a big deal, but first bit of adversity the Hoosiers have had to face.

Touchdown FlU - On a swing pass to the right sideline, tight end Rocky Beers hauls in an easy 7-yard touchdown catch. No one was in Beers' vicinity on the play.

Indiana 21-0, :52 2Q. - FIU has its first threatening drive of the day. The big play was a 23-yard run by Kejon Owens. Panthers caught Venson Sneed Jr. on a blitz and Owens ran right past him. FIU is at the Indiana 8-yard line.

Indiana 21-0, 2:00 2Q. - Our first two-minute warning in Memorial Stadium history. Remember the day.

This game has been remarkably drama-free for the Hoosiers. No doubt just the way Curt Cignetti wanted it. Indiana has moved the ball without much hassle and they haven't let FIU have any real traction. The Panthers have not a single double-digit yardage play. (That counted, that is. There was a long throw that was negated by penalty.)

Indiana 21-0, 4:53 2Q. - Hoosiers got some help from the Panthers on the series, but it was a remarkably efficient 16-play, 93-yard, 8-minute, 5-second Homeric epic of a scoring drive.

The Cross catch was the big play, but a thing that the Panthers will regret is that Kurtis Rourke should have twice been sacked on two different plays, including the Miles Cross catch. Can't leave those plays on the field anywhere, much less on the road.

Touchdown Indiana. - Ty Son Lawton gets his second TD run of the day - a 2-yard plunge as he followed a block by Carter Smith into the end zone.

Indiana 14-0, 8:00 2Q. - On a 3rd-and-21 play from the Indiana 41, a pressured Kurtis Rourke was forced out of the pocket (on what should have been a FIU sack) and threw into traffic downfield. His former Ohio University teammate Miles Cross made it look good with a spectacular one-handed catch to keep the Hoosiers' series moving.

Indiana 14-0, 9:25 2Q. - Some quick stats. QB Kurtis Rourke: 9 of 13 for 93 yards and 1 TD pass. RB Ty Son Lawton 5 carries, 33 yards, 1 TD. RB Justice Ellison 5 carries, 30 yards. WRs Omar Cooper Jr., Myles Price and Elijah Sarratt all have two catches. So does TE Zach Horton, one of his being a TD catch. LB's Jailin Walker (4) and Aiden Fisher (3) are the leading tacklers so far. Fisher had a sack.

Indiana 14-0, 12:58 2Q. - FIU crossed midfield and then rolled the dice on a 4th-and-6 play from the Indiana 44. Keyone Jenkins managed to find tight end Josiah Miamen on the right sideline to convert the fourth down, but FIU also committed a personal foul on the play, so it was wiped off the board. Long review to determine the scrimmage line, but ultimately, Indiana gets the ball back at its own 7.

End 1st quarter, Indiana 14, Florida International 0. - Panthers on the move right now, but Indiana has dominated this game so far.

Indiana 14-0, 1:23 1Q. - Hoosiers mixed it up on that series. Justice Ellison, Kaelon Black and Ty Son Lawton all had carries and Indiana ran a sweep for wide receiver Myles Price too. A 26-yard Kurtis Rourke to Omar Cooper Jr. connection got Indiana into FIU territory. Indiana was only forced into one third down play, which the Hoosiers converted. Nine plays, 76 yards of efficient football. Indiana has a 144-11 edge in total yards.

Touchdown Indiana. - Running back Ty Son Lawton started left and cut right through FIU's linebackers to daylight on his way to a 13-yard touchdown run.

Indiana 7-0, 5:47 1Q. - Indiana defense has been impressive. FIU quarterback Keyone Jenkins completed one 8-yard pass for a first down, but the Panthers have not had a gain over 5 yards on any other play. Both James Madison transfer linebackers - Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker - have been impactful for the Hoosiers. Fisher with a sack on the first series. Walker when he blew up a FIU screen pass on the second one.

Indiana 7-0, 9:14 1Q. - Indiana kept it on the ground for the majority of the series. From its own 42, it penetrated to the FIU 23 via runs by Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison. Once the Hoosiers got to the 23? They ran tempo. A 14-yard pass to Zach Horton was followed by the touchdown connection. Nicolas Radicic handled the extra point. We'll see who takes other kicking duties throughout the game. Indiana opened nice holes on both sides of the scrimmage line, a very good sign. It was a 7-play, 58-yard scoring drive.

Touchdown Indiana. - On a fake hand-off from the FIU 9-yard line, Kurtis Rourke goes over the top to tight end Zach Horton for an easy TD connection.

0-0, 13:07 1Q. - Indiana goes three-and-out on its first series. A 5-yard completion to Elijah Sarratt was the only play for positive yardage. FIU also went three-and-out. Aiden Fisher sacked FIU QB Keyone Jenkins on third-and-long. FIU went backwards five yards on its series.

Starters for Indiana: QB - Kurtis Rourke; RB - Ty Son Lawton; WR - Elijah Sarratt, Myles Price, Omar Cooper Jr.; TE - Zach Horton; T - Carter Smith, Trey Wedig; G - Drew Evans (LG), Bray Lynch (RG).

DE - Lanell Carr Jr., Mikail Kamara; DT - James Carpenter, Marcus Burris Jr.; LB - Aiden Fisher, Jailin Walker; CB - D'Angelo Ponds, Jamier Johnson; S/NB - Amare Ferrell, Shawn Asbury II, Josh Sanguinetti.

Pregame - Indiana injuries today submitted to the Big Ten for the availability report, all players listed as out: CB Josh Philostin (season), CB JoJo Johnson, WR E.J. Williams Jr., DL Andrew Depaepe (season), OL Vince Fiacable (season), G Nick Kidwell (season) and TE Brody Kosin. A couple of expected names, a couple of players we didn't know about. E.J. Williams Jr. has just had trouble getting on the field throughout his Indiana career.

• FIU won the toss and deferred their choice to the second half. Indiana will receive the ball to start the game.

• Nothing new about Indiana's pre-game run-in, apart from Hep's Rock not being a part of it. Hep's Rock is outside the stadium now. It's on the east end where the team enters the stadium as part of The Walk.

• Some early scores from around the Big Ten. Purdue defeated Indiana State 49-0 at Ross-Ade Stadium. Iowa, yes, Iowa put 40 on the board in a 40-0 win over Illinois State in Iowa City, Iowa.

No. 8 Penn State leads West Virginia 20-6 in Morgantown, W. Va., in a game delayed due to inclement weather. Maryland leads UConn 43-7 late in the fourth quarter in College Park, Md.

In the Thursday and Friday games, Minnesota lost 19-17 at home to North Carolina on Thursday. Gophers missed a field goal on the final play. Illinois topped Eastern Illinois 45-0 and Rutgers beat Howard 44-7 in the other Thursday contests. On Friday, Wisconsin beat Western Michigan 28-14 and Michigan State edged Florida Atlantic 16-10. Both teams looked poor in their winning efforts. The Badgers trailed in the fourth quarter and the Spartans didn't score at all in the second half.

• Good student turnout. Sections 22 and 23 are nearly filled to the top. Sporadic elsewhere. Sections directly in front of the press box are populated maybe a third of the way up. Still 10 minutes to kickoff, so it will fill in more.

• Here a picture of the T-shirts being distributed on the north side of Memorial Stadium.

When I walked over there to take the picture, adults were invading the section to get their own. C'mon man! Leave 'em for the kids!

• There's so many changes for Indiana, here's some numbers of prominent Indiana players to watch out for: WR Donaven McCulley (1), LB Jailin Walker (2), WR Omar Cooper Jr. (3), WR Myles Price (4), LB Aiden Fisher (4), WR Ke'Shawn Williams (5), CB D'Angelo Ponds (5), RB Justice Ellison (6), DE Mikail Kamara (6), DE Jacob Mangum-Farrar (7), RB Kaelon Black (8), DT CJ West (8), CB Jamier Johnson (9), QB Kurtis Rourke (9), WR Elijah Sarratt (13), S Nic Toomer (15), RB Ty Son Lawton (17), RB/PR Solomon Vanhorse (18), WR Miles Cross (18), S Josh Sanguinetti (19), CB Jamari Sharpe (22), DB Amare Ferrell (25), K Nicolas Radicic (39), DE Lanell Carr Jr. (41), K Derek McCormick (43), TE Zach Horton (44), C Mike Katic (56), OL Drew Evans (62), T Carter Smith (65), OL Bray Lynch (74), T Trey Wedig (75), OL Tyler Stephens (77), DL Marcus Burris Jr. (92), P James Evans (94), P-K Alejandro Quintero (96), DT James Carpenter (99).

Here's a few for FIU: RB Shomari Lawrence (0), LB Reggie Peterson (0), QB Keyone Jenkins (1), CB Brian Blades II (2), WR Eric Rivers (3), WR Denna Washington (6), RB Lexington Joseph (8), former Indiana DL Jeramy Passmore (8), WR Dean Patterson (11), WR Juju Lewis (13), TE Josiah Miamen (88), DL Cole Gustafson (93),

• Fashion report! Indiana wearing their standard red jerseys with white pants today with the interlocking I-U helmet. It's sharp look, no need to mess with a good thing. Florida International in white jerseys and blue pants with a white helmet.

• It will be interesting to see who kicks field goals for Indiana today. In pregame warm-up, expected candidates Nicolas Radicic, Derek McCormick were out there attempting kicks, but so was Alejandro Quintero, who is listed as a punter.

• What's the sign of the Big Ten's brave, new 18-team conglomerate? They have added the four flags of Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington to the 14 teams that were already represented atop Memorial Stadium. There's so many Big Ten teams (and so many flag poles reserved for Indiana-related flags), that they've had to double up some of the flags. Illinois-Iowa, Nebraska-Northwestern, Ohio State-Oregon and Washington-Wisconsin are all paired up. This isn't your father's Big Ten.


• There was some fear of rain today, especially in the pre-game window, but there's been no sign of it as of 60 minutes prior to kickoff. It is steamy, though. It's 82 degrees with 66% humidity. Radar indicates very, very isolated storms in the southern half of Indiana. Let's just hope for no lightning delays.

• I arrived at Memorial Stadium at about 1:15 p.m. It's not an exact science by any means, but you can sometimes judge the crowd by what the traffic is like at that hour. If you can drive straight in to the media entrance on the bypass? It's generally going to be a medium-to-small-sized turnout. I drove directly in the lot and had no trouble finding a parking spot between the tailgating. We'll see how it fills in by game-time.

Related stories on Indiana football

  • DEPTH CHART PREDICTION: Here's our best guess at how the Hoosiers will line up for Week 1 against Florida International. CLICK HERE
  • 10 QUESTIONS PREVIEWING IU FOOTBALL SEASON: The 2024 Indiana football season begins Saturday against Florida International. Below we answered 10 questions heading into coach Curt Cignetti’s first season. CLICK HERE
  • HOW TO WATCH: Indiana football begins its first season under coach Curt Cignetti on Saturday against the Florida International Panthers at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. Here’s how to watch, game time and TV information, the point spread and over/under, series history and more. CLICK HERE
  • RADIO SHOW RECAP: Indiana’s new football coach Curt Cignetti made his first appearance on Thursday’s edition of Inside Indiana Football with Don Fischer. CLICK HERE
  • MEET THE OPPONENT: If history is an indicator, it could be a high-scoring game as Indiana and Florida International meet for the fourth time in the last decade. CLICK HERE
  • 2024 IU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE: Here are the dates for the 2024 Indiana football schedule, with game time and TV information to be announced at a later date. CLICK HERE
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Todd Golden

TODD GOLDEN

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