Coming into the season, Indiana tight end Riley Nowakowski wasn’t hailed as a reliable receiver.
His statistics and receiving grades from his career at Wisconsin supported his role being more of a blocking tight end, or even a fullback, while Holden Staes would be the receiving tight end. This season is still young, and some roles are still not clearly defined — and others will change as the year goes on. But while Nowakowski won’t be at the top of any opposing scouting reports for his receiving ability, he’s looked capable with the ball in his hands.
Nowakowski made 11 receptions all year in 2024 at Wisconsin, but he’s already up to three through two games at IU. He caught a 14-yard pass from Fernando Mendoza against Kennesaw State that took Indiana into the red zone in the first quarter. But his biggest play of the day came through a different channel earlier in the period, on a goal-line handoff he pushed through a pile of defenders to take into the end zone.
He’s proving to be a versatile player for the Hoosiers.
“He was the player of the game on offense, sort of an unsung hero,” IU head coach Curt Cignetti said Monday. “High effort, high character, gives you everything he’s got play in and play out. Really dependable. Really played well Saturday. Scored a touchdown too. Caught a pass early. The effort on the reverse by him and others downfield was really nice to see. Good player.”
Nowakowski has also looked good as a blocker. He has an 80.1 overall blocking grade on Pro Football Focus, which ranks 32nd in the country among tight ends. And he’s logged far more blocking snaps than everyone in front of him — the next closest from that group is 29 snaps behind him.
What makes Nowakowski’s grade encouraging is that he’s been pretty balanced between run and pass blocking — he isn’t excelling at one and struggling at the other, which some players ahead of him do.
Short week
One of Indiana’s biggest challenges this week is time.
The Hoosiers take on FCS opponent Indiana State in a Friday night battle in Bloomington. The opponent shouldn’t give them too much trouble — IU is a 48.5-point favorite. But the short week at least adds in a wrinkle for the team to deal with.
Cignetti said the team isn’t changing the schedule much during the week, keeping its Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday practices the same as they’d be for a Saturday game.
“Thursday will be a little shorter, and then we’ll have a meeting with the players Friday late morning, and then get them back to the hotel, and play the game,” Cignetti said. “We don’t alter our routine a ton. I may cut some reps during the week in practice.”
This game will give this 22nd-ranked IU team a feel for playing under the lights at Memorial Stadium before it does so on a much bigger stage, against No. 9 Illinois on Sept. 20.
IU football sets game time for Big Ten opener against Illinois
This also won’t be the only Friday game IU plays this year, with the Purdue game scheduled for Black Friday. But the team does have a bye week leading into that matchup, so it isn’t a short week like this.
Indiana State has two Bloomington natives on its roster, along with a big number of Indiana natives. The Sycamores will be plenty motivated for this contest. Ultimately, Cignetti will look for his team to handle business, stay healthy, and continue addressing things like tackling and communication that have caused a few problems in the first two weeks.
“They’re doing a nice job on offense scoring 40 points a game. They’re fairly balanced, playing a couple running backs. They’re doing a nice job throwing the ball. The starter is completing about 77 percent of his passes. Defensively they’re doing a nice job as well,” Cignetti said. “I’m sure they’re going to come in excited to play. I want to see us play a clean game.”
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
