“It’s time to kickoff. Been too much practice scripts, watching tape and listening to all that BS on social media that we stirred up from our success.” — Curt Cignetti.
One of the most anticipated seasons in IU football history is here. Fresh off an 11-win season and an appearance in the College Football Playoff, year two of the Cignetti era has IU fans dreaming big.
Up first are the Old Dominion Monarchs from Cignetti’s old conference, the Sun Belt.
Here’s everything you need to know about Indiana’s season opening matchup against ODU:
OLD DOMINION (0-0) at No. 19/20 INDIANA (0-0)
- Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. ET, Saturday
- Location: Bloomington, Ind., Memorial Stadium (52,626; field turf)
- Television: FS1 — Noah Reed (pbp) & Robert Smith (color)
- Stream: Fox Sports
- Radio: IU Football radio network
- Odds: Indiana is a 24.5-point favorite
- Weather at kickoff: 76 degrees, sunny, wind 5 mph, 0% chance of precipitation.
- Series: First meeting
- The Coaches:
- Curt Cignetti is in his second year as the head coach at IU. He holds a 130-37 record in his 15th season as a college head coach. He’s 11-2 at Indiana.
- Ricky Rahne is 20-30 in his sixth season as a head coach.
253 days of preparation, a few more hours until it all begins. pic.twitter.com/RRoKAh5gwc
— Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) August 30, 2025
TALE OF THE TAPE
THE COMPLETE BIG TEN WEEK ONE SLATE
THURSDAY, AUG. 28
Ohio 31 RUTGERS 34
Buffalo 10 MINNESOTA 23
NEBRASKA 20 Cincinnati 17
Miami (OH) 0 WISCONSIN 17
FRIDAY, AUG. 29
Western Michigan 6 MICHIGAN STATE 23
Western Illinois 3 ILLINOIS 52
SATURDAY, AUG. 30
Texas at OHIO STATE
Noon | FOX
Ball State at PURDUE
Noon | Big Ten Network
FAU at MARYLAND
Noon | Big Ten Network
NORTHWESTERN at Tulane
Noon | ESPNU
Old Dominion at INDIANA
2:30 p.m. | FS1
Nevada at PENN STATE
3:30 p.m. | CBS
Montana State at OREGON
4 p.m. | Big Ten Network
Albany at IOWA
6 p.m. | FS1
New Mexico at MICHIGAN
7:30 p.m. | NBC
Missouri State at USC
7:30 p.m. | Big Ten Network
Colorado State at WASHINGTON
11 p.m. | Big Ten Network
Utah at UCLA
11 p.m. | FOX
All times Eastern
OLD DOMINION NOTES AND NUMBERS
Returning production, offense: 44 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (97th in the country)
Offensive outlook: Old Dominion featured a potent rushing offense last year, ranking 14th in the nation with 209.8 rush yards per game as a team. The passing offense was less stellar, ranking 103rd in the country at 192.9 yards per game. In all, the Monarchs finished 54th in total offense at 402.7 yards per game.
Redshirt sophomore Colton Joseph returns as ODU’s primary quarterback, posing a real threat on the ground. He completed 59.9 percent of his pass attempts and threw for 1,627 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions last year, but he rushed for 647 yards on 114 attempts with 11 touchdowns.
The Monarchs lost their top running back from last year, Aaron Young, to graduation. They’re relying on a group of backs behind him to pick up the slack. Senior Bryce Duke was a candidate for that sort of role, but he entered the transfer portal after spring ball. So redshirt sophomore Devin Roche, who rushed for 6.4 yards per carry in limited action last season, could be in line for a sizable workload.
ODU’s receiving corps will have some new faces this year, as five of its top six receivers from last season are gone. Head coach Ricky Rahne brought in four junior college transfers at receiver to try and fill the voids.
Old Dominion has a lot of continuity on offensive line, with three main starters back and one more who started the last four games of the season.
Returning production, defense: 54 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (69th in the country)
Defensive outlook: The Monarchs struggled defensively last season, ranking outside of the top 100 in the country in total defense and passing defense. Their rushing defense barely escaped the same fate, finishing 97th.
ODU has five returning starters on defense, including all three starting linebackers. Junior linebacker Mario Thompson recorded 9.5 tackles for loss and four sacks last season, and junior Koa Naotala led the team in tackling last year. Defensive end Kris Trinidad also returns after posting 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks last season.
One new face for the Monarchs will have some familiarity with Bloomington: cornerback Botros Alisandro transferred to ODU from Purdue this offseason. Kansas State transfer Nickendre Stiger also figures to step into a big role in the secondary.
PREDICTIONS
Indiana will pull away and win comfortably, but not without showing some signs of rust.
This one might leave Curt Cignetti frustrated, and with some ammo to use as motivation for week two.
TDH PREDICTION: INDIANA 38 ODU 17
- ESPN SP+ (Computer): Indiana 40 ODU 14 (63% win probability)
- ESPN FPI (Computer): Indiana has a 95% chance to win.
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