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    IU football game day: Northwestern at Indiana primer and prediction

    Mike SchumannBy IU Football 26 Comments

    Indiana begins its defense of the 2025 Big Ten title on Friday night in Bloomington.

    They Hoosiers have been waiting for a serious test, and they should get one under the lights at Memorial Stadium.

    Here’s everything you need to know about Indiana’s week 4 matchup against Northwestern in Bloomington.

    NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS (2-0) at No. 4/5 INDIANA HOOSIERS (3-0)

    • Kickoff:  8 p.m. ET, Friday
    • Location:  Bloomington, Ind.; Memorial Stadium (56,626; field turf)
    • Television:  FOX — Connor Onion (pbp), Robert Griffin III (color) & Alexa Landestoy (sideline)
    • Stream:  FOX Sports
    • Radio:  IU Football radio network
    • Odds:  Indiana is around a 20.5-point favorite
    • Weather at kickoff:  64 degrees, mostly cloudy, wind 4 mph, 0% chance of precipitation.
    • Series:  Northwestern leads the all-time series 47-36-1.  IU won last meeting 41-24 in 2024.
    • Tickets:  SOLD OUT.  Use our StubHub affiliate link
    • The Coaches:
      • Curt Cignetti is in his third year as the head coach at IU.  He holds a 149-37 record in his 16th season as a college head coach.  He’s 30-2 at Indiana.
      • David Braun is the head coach of Northwestern.  He’s 21-19 in four seasons with the program.

    GAMEDAY TIMELINE

    THE COMPLETE BIG TEN WEEK 4 SLATE

    All times Eastern.

    Friday, September 25

    • Howard at Rutgers — 7 p.m., Big Ten Network
    • Northwestern at Indiana — 8 p.m., FOX

    Saturday, September 26

    • Illinois at Ohio State — 12 p.m., FOX
    • UCLA at Maryland — 1:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
    • Notre Dame at Purdue — 2 p.m., Peacock
    • Iowa at Michigan — 3:30 p.m., CBS
    • Wisconsin at Penn State — 5 p.m., Peacock
    • Nebraska at Michigan State — 5 p.m., Big Ten Network
    • Oregon at USC — 7:30 p.m., NBC / Peacock
    • Minnesota at Washington — 11 p.m., FOX

    TALE OF THE TAPE 

    NORTHWESTERN RESULTS

    Sept. 5 – Northwestern 34  South Dakota State 18 (Evanston, Ill.)

    Sept. 19 – Northwestern 41  Colorado 7 (Evanston, Ill.)

    NORTHWESTERN NOTES AND NUMBERS

    (Via Northwestern Athletics)

    LAST TIME OUT

    On Saturday (Sept. 19), Northwestern defeated Colorado 41-7 in the final game at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. The ‘Cats capped off their time on the lakefront with five straight victories, while the win moved Northwestern to 2-0 for the first time since 2020. The Wildcats’ +34 point differential marked their largest margin of victory against a power conference opponent since 2020.

    Fourth-year quarterback Aidan Chiles earned Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors by completing 77.3% of his passes (17-of-22) for 241 passing yards and three passing touchdowns, while running for two scores. He’s the first Big Ten player to post those numbers in a game since Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett in 2017. Fifth-year running back Joseph Himon II hauled in three receiving touchdowns, tied for the second-most in program history, while totaling 128 all-purpose yards. Fourth-year running back Caleb Komolafe and fifth-year running back Gavin Sawchuk tallied 49 and 48 rushing yards, respectively, while fourth-year wide receiver Griffin Wilde led the team in receptions (5) and receiving yards (85).

    Northwestern’s defense forced four turnovers, with fifth-year defensive back Robert Fitzgerald and fifth-year linebacker Braydon Brus recovering fumbles and sixth-year defensive back Ore Adeyi and fifth-year defensive back Braden Turner notching interceptions. Fitzgerald led the team in tackles with 11, and fourth-year defensive back Josh Fussell led the team with two pass breakups. In his season debut, fourth-year defensive lineman Michael Kilbane posted six tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.

    NAMES TO KNOW

    1. Aidan Chiles: Last week’s Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, Chiles has thrown for 514 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, while rushing for three touchdowns through two games this season. In the contest against Colorado, the fourth-year quarterback became the first Northwestern quarterback to record 3+ passing touchdowns and 2+ rushing touchdowns in a single game since 2001, when Zak Kustok did so against Bowling Green.

    2. Michael Kilbane: Kilbane made his season debut in Week 2, and his performance with a 91.9 PFF grade earned him a place on a PFF National Team of the Week. The fourth-year from Lakewood, Ohio, became the first Wildcat defensive lineman to have a game with 6+ tackles, 1+ tackle for loss and 1+ forced fumble since Adetomiwa Adebawore did so against Duke on Sep. 10, 2022.

    3. Joseph Himon II: The fifth-year running back ranks second on the team with 176 scrimmage yards through two games, and he ranks 26th nationally with 123.0 all-purpose yards per game. After registering three receiving touchdowns against the Buffaloes — the most by a Northwestern running back in a single game since at least 1995, Himon needs just one more receiving touchdown to set the program record for receiving touchdowns in a single season by a running back.

    4. Robert Fitzgerald: The fifth-year defensive back sits atop the nation in tackles per game with 12.5. Furthermore, Fitzgerald currently leads the Big Ten in assisted tackles (19) after leading the conference in solo tackles last season (70). Fitzgerald is the first Big Ten player since 2009 to record 25+ tackles and 1+ fumble recovery in the first two games of a season.

    5. Griffin Wilde: Named All-Big Ten Third Team and the GameAbove Sports Bowl MVP last season, Wilde’s 2026 season has picked up where he left off. The fourth-year wide receiver — who is the fastest Wildcat to reach 1,000 receiving yards since D’Wayne Bates in 1995-96 — is the first Northwestern player to tally over 75 receiving yards in each of the first two games of a season since Mark Philmore in 2004.

    MORE NORTHWESTERN WEEK COVERAGE

    PREDICTIONS

    This is a dangerous Northwestern team, with the majority of its starters fourth or fifth-year players, good coaching and good quarterback play.

    The Wildcats didn’t lose any games a year ago by more than 21 points, and they’ve been impressive early this year.  They’ll test Indiana, but the Hoosiers pull away in the second half.

    TDH PREDICTION:  INDIANA 31 NORTHWESTERN 17

    • ESPN SP+ (Computer):  Indiana 35 Northwestern 14 (90% win probability for IU)
    • ESPN FPI (Computer):  Indiana has a 89.5% chance to win.

    For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.

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