The Hoosiers climbed to No. 4 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 after dominating Howard 55-0. Indiana also received three first-place votes as it moved up one spot from No. 5.
The ranking comes after Indiana put together its best performance in the young, highly anticipated season.
The defense, in particular, looked much different from the group that allowed 16 points to North Texas in the opener. Indiana recorded five sacks and 12 tackles for loss against Howard, while the Bison managed just one trip across midfield.
Head coach Curt Cignetti said Monday that the improvement came from all three levels of the defense.
“I thought the defense in general did (improve the most),” Cignetti said. “We stuffed the run, harassed the quarterback with 12 TFLs and five sacks, deflected a pass and ran it back for a touchdown.”
Indiana also continued to show depth offensively.
Quarterback Josh Hoover threw four touchdown passes, with three in the first half going to wide receiver Charlie Becker. Running backs Lee Beebe Jr. and Turbo Richard, both went over 100 yards on the ground as the Hoosiers piled up 296 rushing yards.
Now, Indiana turns its attention to Western Kentucky.
The Hilltoppers are 0-2 after losses to Nevada and Georgia, including a 70-20 loss to the Bulldogs. Cignetti said Western Kentucky has struggled early, but he specifically pointed to the Hilltopper receivers, whom he said did a good job creating separation against Georgia.
Indiana also may have some reinforcements back and available Saturday.
Cignetti said cornerback Jamari Sharpe, Blake Smythe, and AJ Harris are day-to-day, but that he is very optimistic about both Sharpe and Smythe being available for this weekend's game.
For all the positives, Cignetti knows there is still room for improvement.
He said Indiana had nine or 10 negative plays against Howard that the team needs to eliminate, along with two penalties that included a holding call which erased a touchdown run.
The Hoosiers have scored 107 points through two games while allowing just 16, and another strong performance against Western Kentucky would give them even more confidence heading into Big Ten play.
Indiana hosts Western Kentucky Saturday at Memorial Stadium starting at 4 p.m. streaming on Peacock.
