Indiana football is two practices into fall camp ahead of the 2025 season.
The Hoosiers battled sweltering heat on day one and spotty rain the next day, forcing them inside the mid-renovation Mellencamp Pavilion. They have a big month of work ahead of them, leading up to the season-opener against Old Dominion on August 30.
IU’s roster is very promising as Curt Cignetti looks to follow up his historic first year with the program. But, as always, some areas have question marks. Here are a few of those big questions.
Who will start at cornerback opposite D’Angelo Ponds?
This is the biggest position battle on Indiana’s roster this preseason.
Jamari Sharpe entered fall camp as the favorite for the job, which Cignetti acknowledged at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas. Sharpe started for IU for most of the 2023 season, Tom Allen’s last with the program, and endured a difficult campaign. He posted an overall Pro Football Focus grade above 70 in only one game that season, against an Akron team that went on to finish 2-10.
Sharpe was a reserve for most of last season, starting just three games — once in week four, when Ponds was suspended for the first half, and then the last two games against Purdue and Notre Dame ahead of Jamier Johnson. The Miami native showed tangible improvement, but in a smaller role.
He’ll be competing to re-enter Indiana’s starting lineup this preseason with Pitt transfer Ryland Gandy, who saw much more action last season than Sharpe (Gandy played 766 snaps while Sharpe played 234, per PFF). Sharpe posted stronger numbers, but that’s a big difference in snap counts.
The two players are very similar in size and overall collegiate experience — Gandy has played fewer than 100 more snaps than Sharpe across their careers. This position battle should be tight, and one that could have a big impact on Indiana’s fortunes in 2025.
Is Alberto ready to be backup quarterback?
Fernando Mendoza is starting at quarterback for Indiana. That’s locked in, without question.
But the depth behind him is one of the bigger red flags on IU’s roster. His younger brother, Alberto, is in line for the No. 2 job. The redshirt freshman played a few snaps at the end of the Western Illinois game last year, so he’s completely unproven — he’s yet to take the field against an FBS opponent.
Through the beginning of fall camp, Alberto has looked solid throwing alongside his brother. He certainly has the build and the arm strength to be a good college quarterback. But there’s a big difference between preseason practice and game days. If anything happens to Fernando during the season, all eyes will be on Alberto. That leads to two questions. Is he capable of, at the very least, keeping Indiana from sinking without Fernando, or provide any spark beyond that level? And is he mentally ready for the pressure that comes with playing quarterback for a Big Ten team, particularly one like IU with big postseason aspirations?
Alberto won’t be able to truly prove himself and address those questions without an opportunity Indiana will hope he never has to get this season.
What will the backfield committee look like for week one?
IU has the pieces in place for another strong running game this season.
Last year, the Hoosiers appeared set to go into the season-opener with a three-man committee of Justice Ellison, Ty Son Lawton, and Kaelon Black at running back. But that turned into more of a two-headed attack with Ellison and Lawton — Black played just two snaps in that first game against FIU after suffering an injury, and he never became a significant part of IU’s backfield after that.
Black, now a redshirt senior, is poised for a bigger role this year, as one of the more vocal leaders on Indiana’s offense. Redshirt senior Roman Hemby should join Black as a big part of IU’s rushing game, after transferring from Maryland. Hemby finished just shy of 1,000 yards as a redshirt freshman in 2022, but saw his numbers dip in each of the next two years. Still, he’s a player with proven success in the Big Ten, the type of experience Cignetti tends to value.
UAB transfer Lee Beebe Jr. provides a little bit of different look from Hemby and Black, who are built similarly. Beebe has a little more weight on his frame, and offers some pass-catching ability that could be useful. If IU was going to slim its main rotation to two again, the redshirt junior could be the one to cede some playing time. But the Hoosiers could certainly roll with three this year.
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