Road To 10-0: Indiana Continues To Burnish Credentials With Win Over Charlotte

Hoosiers On SI looks back game-by-game at the path Indiana football took to create a dream season. How did this game inform what we know now that we didn't know then?

Indiana's Tyrique Tucker (95) tackles Charlotte's Cartevious Norton (5) in the backfield during the Indiana versus Charlotte football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana’s football team is in the midst of its second bye week of the season. It wasn’t long ago that bye weeks were looked at as respites from gridiron misery for the Hoosiers, but Curt Cignetti’s 2024 team has flipped the script.

Indiana has had an unprecedented season. The 10-0 record amassed by the Hoosiers has never been achieved in program history. With the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff in place in just the knick of time to give a historic season its possible proper reward, a world of possibilities is in front of Indiana in a way no one would have dreamed of in August.

The bye week provides an opportunity to reflect on what has been with just two regular season games left, at No. 2 Ohio State Nov. 23 and at home against Purdue Nov. 30. Hoosiers On SI will take a look at each game and put into context how each fits into the puzzle of what has been a perfect season.

We’ll continue with Indiana’s fourth game of the season, a home nonconference game against Charlotte.

Narrative Entering The Game – Indiana was 3-0 after an eye-opening 42-13 win at UCLA in a Week 3 surprise. Charlotte’s visit was a bit of a comedown in terms of the opponent after the marauding trip to California.

So the natural reaction was to wonder how Indiana could handle a bit of success. Curt Cignetti was on the hunt for any notion of the Hoosiers being satisfied. This was the week he talked about not falling for the “warm and fuzzies” that come when a team starts to win.

Pregame Coverage

• MEET THE OPPONENT: Preview of Charlotte as it stood before the Indiana game. CLICK HERE.

• PREDICTIONS, THREE KEYS: Pregame predictions and a score prediction for Indiana's game against Charlotte. CLICK HERE.

• CROSS, ROURKE HAVE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP: Kurtis Rourke and Miles Cross have accompanied each other on their college football journeys. CLICK HERE.

The Result – Playing with its third-string quarterback, Charlotte admirably hung in there with the Hoosiers before Indiana overwhelmed the 49ers. Indiana’s lead was just 17-14 with 5:19 left in the first half, but Indiana scored two touchdowns before halftime, the first of 35 unanswered points in a 52-14 victory.

Indiana Hoosiers Head Coach Curt Cignetti high-fives Indiana Hoosiers kicker Nicolas Radicic (39) against the Florida International Panthers during the second half at Memorial Stadium. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Player Fans Learned To Love – K Nicolas Radicic: Have you noticed Indiana’s kicking this season? Chances are, you haven’t, and that’s not a bad thing. Nicolas Radicic has been a stress-free presence on place-kicking duties all season long.

Against Charlotte, it was a typical Radicic performance. He found the mark on a short field goal attempt and booted seven extra points.  

Radicic won the place-kicking job in fall camp and hasn’t looked back. A holdover from the Tom Allen era, the Coppell, Texas, native has made all eight of his field goal attempts and is an impressive 59 of 59 on extra points. So impressive that Radicic leads the nation in extra points made by an 11-PAT margin over Miami (Fla.) kicker Andres Borregales and Boise State kicker Jonah Dalmas.

Indiana's Elijah Green (21) runs for a touchdown during the Indiana versus Charlotte football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Trend That Would Stick – That Balanced Running Attack: By now, Indiana fans were learning that Cignetti liked to spread the wealth in the backfield. This was a prime example.

Justice Ellison had nine carries, the most among any Indiana runner. Kaelon Black and Ty Son Lawton had seven carries. Khobie Martin had six carries in the late going. Elijah Green had four carries.

As the season went along, Ellison and Lawton emerged as the dominant runners. Ellison has 120 carries, Lawton 106, but with the exception of Indiana’s game against Washington, Cignetti and the offensive staff manage to find carries for other Hoosiers.

The rewards are self-evident. Ellison (5.7 ypc), Black (5.6 ypc) and Lawton (4.8 ypc) have all been productive for the Hoosiers.

Any Postgame Worries? – Indiana was cruising along at 4-0. They had completed (an easy) nonconference schedule without stubbing their toe with a loss or even a bad performance. The team was relatively healthy. The defense was giving up late first-half drives, but this was not hurting the Hoosiers in the final balance. All was well.

Indiana's Bryson Bonds (24) celebrates his fumble recovery during the Indiana versus Charlotte football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Narrative Exiting The Game – How good could this Hoosiers team be? It was starting to dawn on everyone that there was a favorable path forward for the Hoosiers. Maryland and Northwestern – two teams that had uneven starts to their seasons – were next for the Hoosiers and the only thing between Indiana and bowl eligibility. There was a real chance for this team to get on a roll, attain bowl eligibility, and perhaps fight near the top of the Big Ten.

Pro Football Focus stars (top 5 scoring players in each unit, 10 plays or more)  – Offense: RB Kaelon Black (90.2), RB Justice Ellison (88.4), QB Kurtis Rourke (87.3), WR Ke’Shawn Williams (73), WR Myles Price (72.6); Defense: CB Jamari Sharpe (74.9), LB Rolijah Hardy (74.5), S Josh Sanguinetti (74.4), S Bryson Bonds (72.1), DE Mikail Kamara (70.1).

Postgame Coverage

• INDIANA CONTINUES ROLL: Hoosiers surge past Charlotte in 52-14 win at Memorial Stadium. CLICK HERE.

• INDIANA HAS AN ARRAY OF WEAPONS: Todd Golden writes about Indiana's multi-faceted attack and how hard it would be to defend. CLICK HERE.

• THE DAY AFTER, PREDICTIONS REVISITED: How did Hoosiers On SI do on its pregame predictions for the Charlotte game? CLICK HERE.

Next game – From here on out? It was all Big Ten, all the time. Maryland was next for the Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 28.

Related stories on Indiana football

• ROAD TO 10-0 - UCLA: Indiana earns an eye-opening victory at the Rose Bowl as more fans and national observers began to take notice. CLICK HERE.

• ROAD TO 10-0 - WIU: Indiana romped past FCS Western Illinois to keep its good vibes flowing. CLICK HERE.

• ROAD TO 10-0 - FIU: Indiana's road to 10-0 began with the season opener against Florida International. If we knew then what we know now ... CLICK HERE.

• INDIANA OFFENSE, CAUSE FOR CONCERN? Indiana's offensive numbers are down in its last three games. A reverseable situation or an unwelcome trend? CLICK HERE.