BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana State began the Curt Cignetti era Thursday night in its spring football game at Memorial Stadium.
The changed scoring system, no punts, no sacks, and short game time didn't have the feel of an actual Big Ten game, but it did give fans a glimpse of Cininetti's team. The crimson team, represented by Indiana's offense, defeated the cream team, or defense, 34-25 in two 15-minute periods.
Here are three points.
“Healthy competition” at quarterback
Curtis Rourke, a transfer from Ohio State, took the field to lead the first-team offense at the start of Thursday's game. He joined Indiana for spring practice after spending four seasons at Ohio and earned All-Mid-American Conference (MAC) second-team honors as a fifth-year student in 2023. He completed 195 of 195 games at 6-foot-5 and 222 pounds. He completed -307 passes (63.5%) for 2,207 yards, 11 touchdowns, and five interceptions that season.
Indiana's defense thwarted Rourke's first two drives with two errors and an intentional ground ball penalty. Despite some early mistakes, Rourke finished the night strong, leading Indiana with a touchdown drive that proved to be the game-winner. He primarily excelled at short passes, completing eight passes of seven yards or less on the final drive, including a 3-yard touchdown pass to corner Andison Kobe. However, Rourke also showed his long-range accuracy by completing two passes of 11 and 15 yards to Elijah Surratt, a transfer from James Madison.
Unofficially, Rourke finished the night completing 21 of 33 passes for 146 yards and one touchdown. Cininetti thought Rourke was the victim of a few dropped passes that could have kept the drive alive.
Returning redshirt sophomore Taven Jackson played on the second-team offense and had an accurate night. Jackson went 7-for-7 on his first drive, highlighted by a 39-yard completion to Kobe and an 11-yard touchdown pass across the middle to Donaven McCallie. On a 64-yard completion from Jackson to Kobe, Wake Forest running back transfer Justise Ellison scored a 2-yard touchdown on Jackson's next drive.
Indiana played two drives with true freshman Tyler Cherry, completing 1 of 3 passes for 8 yards. Jackson returned to the game late but ran into trouble. He threw an interception to Old Dominion defensive back transfer Terry Jones Jr., but back-to-back fumbles on the next drive resulted in a three-and-out.
Jackson finished the night completing 11 of 14 pass attempts for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
“We were trying to figure out if our two offenses were that good or if our two defenses were that bad,” Cininetti said. “But Taven made some great pitches, and Andison [Coby] We played a play or two. But then if he turned around and dropped the ball, it could have been a big play throwing an interception. ”
Although Rourke comes to the Hoosiers with more experience than Jackson or Cherry, Cininetti insisted this spring that he would not hand over the job to Rourke. He has to earn it and it looks like that will continue to be the case.
“I think there’s going to be some healthy competition going into summer and fall camp,” Cininetti said. “Competition is great. We need more competition at every position.”
Aiden Fisher leads the defense.
Indiana has a linebacker hole left with the graduation of first-team All-Big Ten captain Aaron Casey, and it looks like Aiden Fisher, a transfer from James Madison, will fill the hole. In 2023, Fisher led James Madison with 108 total tackles and made the All-Sun Belt third team as a sophomore. Cininetti also brought in defensive coordinator Bryant Haynes from James Madison. The school led the nation in run defense, ranking 18th in points allowed per game (18.5) and 29th in total yards allowed per game (328.6) in 2023.
Fisher was all over the field Thursday and seemed to be involved in every defensive stop. No official game stats were provided, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Fisher record 10 or more tackles in the spring game.
“I think Bryant Haynes, you sleep a lot better at night with him around. He's like the quarterback of the defense,” Chinguetti said of Fisher. “He knows the ins and outs, he really studies, he's really respected by his teammates and he helps set up the other players. He's progressing, he's a good football player.”
Receivers come in size and speed combinations
Indiana returns lead receiver Donaven McCallie from last season, and Cignetti will be joined by Elijah Surratt (James Madison), Myles Price (Texas Tech), Myles Cross (Ohio) and Keshawn Williams (Wake Forest). The group was strengthened by transferring. But it was returning senior Andison Cobe who led the Hoosiers with 114 receiving yards and a touchdown on Thursday.
Among that group, Indiana has a big red zone target in the 6-foot-5 McCulley. After starting his career as a quarterback, McCulley developed into a dominant receiver last season. Price and Cross are short at 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-1, respectively, but they showed off their speed Thursday. Surratt seemed to have a solid combination of both, consistently creating separation at receiver and gaining 34 yards on four receptions.
Along with returners like EJ Williams Jr. and Omar Cooper Jr., wide receiver is shaping up to be a strength for the Hoosiers in 2024.
Cininetti said earlier in the spring that McCulley “needs to step up a little bit,” but he's seen him respond since then. Jackson smartly threw the ball high to McCulley in the end zone, where only he could receive the ball, which led to a touchdown.
“I thought he made a really great catch for the first touchdown,” Cininetti said of McCurry. “I saw him really react. We don't do that a lot. I did it once with a quarterback last fall, and he really responded about halfway through the season.”
“He still has room to improve. Everyone has to improve. I know what his goal is, which is to be a great player. It's about the way he practices, the attention to detail. It starts with his attention, how he studies off the field, how he prepares. Those are some of the areas he has to improve on. But I'm happy to have him.”
