Two unbeaten teams who barely know each other
Northwestern and Indiana have shared a conference since 1900. Friday night in Bloomington will be only their fourth meeting in 14 seasons, which tells you most of what you need to know about how the Big Ten schedule has treated this pairing.
The Wildcats arrive at 2-0. The Hoosiers are 3-0 and ranked fifth. Both open conference play with a perfect record, and one of them will not leave with it.
David Braun knows the opponent better than the fixture list suggests. In 2024, Curt Cignetti’s first year at Indiana and Braun’s second at Northwestern, the Hoosiers went to Evanston, piled up 529 total yards and won 41-24 on their way to a 6-0 start. Braun, who agreed a contract extension through 2031 last week, has not forgotten the tape.
“There’s just a certain level of confidence that they move with,” he said. “It starts up front with the offensive line play and really sound decision-making from the quarterback position.”
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131 minutes without conceding a point
The number that frames this game belongs to the Indiana defence. The Hoosiers have not given up a point since 1:18 remained in the third quarter of their Week 1 win over North Texas. That is a scoreless run of 131 minutes and 18 seconds, stretched across victories over North Texas, Howard and Western Kentucky.
Josh Hoover, the third transfer quarterback in three years to start for Cignetti, has matched it at the other end of the field. In roughly eight quarters of work he has completed 37 of 51 passes for 649 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions, which puts him second nationally in passing efficiency at 244.1.
Chiles arrives with the hotter hand
Aidan Chiles is the Big Ten’s reigning Offensive Player of the Week. Against Colorado on Saturday the Michigan State transfer completed 17 of 22 for 241 yards and three touchdowns, all three to running back Joseph Himon II, then ran for two more. No Big Ten player had put up three passing and two rushing scores in a game since Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett in 2017.
Chip Kelly, hired as Northwestern’s offensive coordinator with an Ohio State national title on his record, gets the credit from the opposite bench. “The quarterback has really developed,” Cignetti said. “They’ve done a great job with him as a passer and designed a really nice offense around him.”
Chiles has history in this fixture and none of it is kind. He faced Indiana twice as Michigan State’s starter and lost 47-10 and 38-13. Cignetti’s approach has not shifted since. “We’ve got to stop the run, No. 1,” he said. “They’re about 66% run-to-pass, so it always starts there.”
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