BLOOMINGTON — IU football season is drawing ever-closer.
Indiana completed its fourth practice of fall camp on Monday, as the Hoosiers build up to the start of the regular season. IU’s season-opener, the first game of the Curt Cignetti era, is on August 31 against Florida International at Memorial Stadium. Fall camp will run through the next three weeks, leading up to the first game week.
Cignetti met with local media after Monday’s practice to talk about his team. Here are a few key things he discussed.
Ponds living up to hype early
One of Indiana’s biggest pickups from the transfer portal in the spring was sophomore cornerback D’Angelo Ponds. The Miami native earned freshman All-America honors last season while playing for Cignetti and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines at James Madison.
For Cignetti, Ponds’ mindset and talent are what make him a good player.
“I don’t know if we’ve beat him yet on a pass route (in practice). He’s just swallowed up that side of the field,” Cignetti said. “He’s a good guy to everybody else to watch in terms of how to do it.”
Ponds is set to step into a starting cornerback role for IU right away. The Hoosiers have options at the other cornerback spot — likely among returnees Jamari Sharpe, JoJo Johnson, and Jamier Johnson, who Cignetti also praised on Monday. But Ponds should be the No. 1.
Linebacker Aiden Fisher played with Ponds at JMU and was excited when he committed to IU. At Big Ten Media Days, Fisher said Ponds will show Hoosier fans what he can do very soon.
“First, he’s a great football player. He’s also a great person who has the same goals as a lot of us, just to be the best at their position, and I think that’s what makes him so great,” Fisher said in Indianapolis on July 25. “He loves the game and he puts a lot of time and dedication into it, and he’s always working at his craft. And I think that’s really shown as he was like freshman All-American, so he just believes in himself a lot, he puts in a lot of work on the outside of things.”
Return game unsettled
Indiana’s kickoff return unit was one of its most consistently strong groups the last couple years, as Jaylin Lucas provided a major threat on runbacks. Lucas also handled punt returns for much of last season, though he had more trouble fielding punts compared to kickoffs.
Lucas transferred to Florida State in the offseason, leaving the returner jobs open. IU was working on kickoff coverage on Monday, and Cignetti said the team has worked on punt returns, but hasn’t done kick returns yet. He said the Hoosiers have some good options for returners.
“We’ve got guys that are good with the ball in their hand. And the most important thing, to me, is at the end of the play, we have possession of the ball,” Cignetti said. “I think we’ve got three really good punt return candidates: (fifth-year senior Myles) Price, (graduate student Solomon) Vanhorse, and (fifth-year senior) Ke’Shawn Williams. And those guys are good kickoff return guys, too. Of course, it helps when you do a really good job of blocking. So I think we’ve got a chance to be pretty good there.”
Vanhorse played in just one game last season for JMU before suffering a season-ending injury. He returned two punts in that game, for 60 total yards. Price was Texas Tech’s main punt returner for the last two seasons. Last year, totaled 196 yards on nine punt returns. Williams is the only one in that group with kickoff return experience, serving as Wake Forest’s main kick returner for the last two years. He returned eight kicks for 187 yards last season, and in 2022, he recorded 12 kick returns for 235 yards. Williams’ punt return experience is more limited, with just two returns in 2021 and none since then.
Extra notes
- IU’s first two practices of fall camp were without pads — only helmets. The last two have been with shoulder pads. The Hoosiers will suit up in full pads later this week.
- Senior wide receiver E.J. Williams Jr. has been limited to start fall camp, as Cignetti said he pulled a hamstring during the last week of summer conditioning. “Still waiting to get him on the field. He’s practiced three times since I’ve been here,” Cignetti said. “Hope we get him back on the field.”
- IU has been working with Slipskin covers on footballs in some drills since camp started. The covers make the ball slick and slippery, and create opportunities to work on ball security.
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