Author: Mike Schumann

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer is a legend in Sioux Falls, S.D. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti and his father are household names in Indiana, Pa. It was from relatively humble beginnings in those towns that Thursday’s Rose Bowl head coaches learned how to grind. DeBoer starred as a receiver on the University of Sioux Falls football team before he later became its head coach.  He went 67-3 at the NAIA school and won four straight national titles from 2005-09. Cignetti saw his father, Frank, Sr., build a College Football Hall of Fame coaching career at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.  Curt left…

On a typical regular season road trip, IU coach Curt Cignetti likes to arrive late the night before the game and limit disruption to his team’s weekly routine. But the College Football Playoff and the Rose Bowl provide little opportunity for situation normal. Indiana arrived in Los Angeles late Monday evening east coast time, and almost the entire team had media obligations the following morning. The Hoosiers did practice in Los Angeles Tuesday afternoon, but going into the final day of prep, nothing has felt quite right to Cignetti since the Hoosiers touched down in California. That’s left Cignetti feeling…

LOS ANGELES — No. 1 and an underdog? Although Indiana has arrived in Los Angeles as the top seed in the 2025 College Football Playoff, the Hoosiers are staying true to their identity. That was apparent as Indiana walked off the bus at their hotel Monday evening. While the Hoosiers are the No. 1 team in America and the oddsmakers favor them vs. Alabama, the Indiana players also know they are a cast of 0-star recruits going up against 4 and 5-stars. “There’s always a chip on our shoulder,” linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “Not a lot of people recruited us…

Indiana has a chance to get kickoff specialist Brendan Franke back for the College Football Playoff.  Franke was listed as “probable” in the first injury report issued Monday for the CFP quarterfinal at The Rose Bowl when IU football faces Alabama. Franke was injured during a kickoff when IU played UCLA in October and he hasn’t played since. One of the top kickoff specialists in the nation, Franke has produced 46 touchbacks on 51 kickoffs this season, averaging 71 yards per kick.  He also made a 58-yard field goal at Oregon in October. Among kickers with at least 50 kickoffs,…

Indiana’s defense will face an elite cast of skilled athletes and extraordinarily large humans when they take on Alabama at The Rose Bowl on Thursday. What are the keys to watch for when the Crimson Tide has the football? Nationally, Alabama ranks No. 33 in scoring offense at 31.4 points per game, while IU ranks No. 2 in scoring defense at 10.8 points allowed per contest.  If you take out Alabama’s two games against non-Power 4 opponents, the Tide averaged just 22.2 points per contest.  Indiana, on the other hand, still only allowed 11.8 points per game to Power 4…

ESPN’s Pete Thamel is reporting through sources IU wide receiver Omar Cooper, Jr. will be back to 100 percent for the Rose Bowl. “Indiana leading WR Omar Cooper is back to full speed for the Hoosiers. He’s expected to be at full availability for the Rose Bowl against Alabama. He’d been trending this way since a lower-body injury against Ohio State in the Big Ten title game,” Thamel wrote Monday on X. This reporting puts the final bow on what we’ve observed over the last week. The Daily Hoosier saw Cooper participating in practice during an open session on Sunday. …

Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones flew into spring practice under the radar, at least from the outside looking in. All-American Aiden Fisher was back at one middle linebacker spot, and the expectation was sophomore Rolijah Hardy would line up next to him to replace Jailin Walker. Meanwhile Jones’ opportunity to see the field seemed similar to what it was in 2024.  He’d likely play against 12 personnel (one running back and two tight ends) and on special teams.  Jones says he was fine with that if the team is winning. And the way he agonizes over talking about himself rather than…

Indiana has big shoes to fill on the edge after losing defensive end Stephen Daley to a freak injury during the Big Ten Championship game celebration. And it isn’t just Daley’s production defensive coordinator Bryant Haines must replace. The Hoosiers previously lost Kellan Wyatt for the season.  He was starting in Daley’s role at field end. Combined Daley and Wyatt had 27 tackles for loss and eight sacks.  They are the top two players on the team in tackles for loss per game.  And all of that production is gone as the No. 1 Hoosiers (13-0) get set to face…

March Madness meet December Disorder. On Wednesday news broke that former Detroit Pistons second-round pick James Nnaji had enrolled at Baylor and is immediately eligible to play college basketball. Nnaji, 21, went 31st overall in the 2023 NBA Draft.  He never signed an NBA contract, and instead has been playing in Europe. International pros moving over to American college basketball is nothing new.  In fact, Indiana has a former international pro on its roster.  Aleksa Ristic was a three-year professional player for KK Dynamic in the Serbia KSL, the top league in Serbia.  Down the road, Illinois is basically a…

Indiana wide receiver Elijah Sarratt has embraced the nickname Waffle House. “He’s open right now,” his father Donnie, who came up with the nickname, said of Elijah as he shot an interview with the Big Ten Network for an episode of the Journey about his son. Donnie couldn’t have known whether Elijah was really open at that very moment, but that’s the whole point.  Elijah, like Waffle House, is always open, you see. And over his career, Sarratt has 228 catches, 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns to back up that claim. But did you know Waffle House also offers delivery?…