College football season is rapidly approaching, with fall camp opening in early August. We’re going through Indiana’s schedule to look ahead at all 12 opponents for 2026.
- Opponent: Howard
- Date/Time/TV: Saturday, September 12, noon; Big Ten Network
- Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Ind.
- 2025 record/postseason result: 5-7, 2-3 MEAC
Offensive outlook: Howard has a new head coach in Ted White, who served as an offensive assistant at Maryland last year and UCLA quarterbacks coach in 2024. He and Jimmie Johnson — the former NFL tight end, not the former Dallas Cowboys coach and current FOX analyst — will run the Bison offense, which finished 99th in FCS in scoring last year. They also ranked 113 out of 126 in FCS in total offense last year.
Defensive outlook: Kyshoen Jarrett returns for his second year as Howard defensive coordinator, despite the coaching change. His unit performed well in 2025, ranking 23rd in FCS in total defense. The Bison allowed 24.1 points per game, tying for 35th in FCS. Their pass defense was particularly strong, finishing 12th in FCS with only 173 yards per game allowed. While Indiana will still overpower an FCS program like this, the Hoosiers could be facing one of the better defenses among those FCS teams if the Bison carry momentum into this year.
Overall Outlook: In his first two games against FCS opponents with Indiana, Curt Cignetti’s teams have scored 77 points against Western Illinois and 73 against Indiana State. You can’t ever expect a point total like those, but this should be similarly one-sided. The Hoosiers will surely get plenty of game action here for their second and third units.
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Instagram, X, and Facebook
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
