BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football’s spring game has come and gone.
The Hoosiers wrapped up their spring camp Thursday night at Memorial Stadium, in the most extended public look at the 2025 squad. Of course, the roster will look different at the beginning of fall camp in August than it did on Thursday, as more players will surely enter the transfer portal and Curt Cignetti and his staff will bring in further reinforcements from the portal as well.
The spring game should always be taken with several grains of salt. It’s a small sample size from several scrimmages held this spring, quarterbacks were exempt from being tackled, and several of Indiana’s best players — Aiden Fisher, Mikail Kamara, Elijah Sarratt, and Makai Jackson, among others — did not play. Spring game performances often aren’t indicative of things to come in the fall.
That said, here are some takeaways and standouts from Thursday’s action.
Ro the boat
Rolijah Hardy’s strongest attribute as a player may not always show up in the stat sheet.
He just finds the ball and makes things happen.
Turnovers can be luck-based, but that ability goes beyond simply creating turnovers. It can lead to important tackles for loss, pass breakups, QB hurries, or setting teammates up for big plays. It forces offenses to be aware of his presence.
Hardy came up with the biggest defensive play of the spring game on Thursday, intercepting a Fernando Mendoza pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage and returning it 43 yards for a touchdown. That moment only further supported the linebacker’s good ball instincts shown last season, when he recorded two interceptions and two forced fumbles, along with 5.5 tackles for loss.
The sophomore is primed for a bigger role this year in Indiana’s defense, potentially stepping into Jailin Walker’s vacated starting role alongside Fisher. Cignetti has praised Hardy’s development and progress this spring, and teammates have echoed that support. The spring game was another example of what Hardy could bring to this year’s IU defense.
Mendoza on point
Mendoza looked every bit the part of a Big Ten-caliber quarterback on Thursday.
He displayed everything the Hoosiers should want in their quarterback. The Cal transfer looked shifty and mobile, and was very willing to take off and gain yards on the ground. But he wasn’t purely scrambling to run the ball — he scrambled to throw. Mendoza hit a few nice throws on the run, including a particularly strong play in the first half while rolling to his left and completing a difficult pass to Tennessee transfer tight end Holden Staes.
The redshirt junior didn’t show any noticeably significant accuracy concerns, especially important without Sarratt and Jackson available on Thursday. He also made some good decisions in option looks, which Indiana utilizes heavily — and his comfort level with that aspect of the offense should grow even more once fall camp arrives.
Additionally, Mendoza displayed good composure and poise in leading multiple long touchdown drives. Those intangibles, in particular, are difficult to gauge during a spring scrimmage in front of maybe 5,000 fans. Only time will tell if that carries over into the fall, with a packed stadium and a real opponent. But for a quarterback still pretty fresh in this system and environment, Indiana should be pleased with the way Mendoza’s seemingly handled himself on the field. Cignetti said the Miami native finished camp on a strong note, making good progress over the final week.
Offensive line looks strong
Sometimes, during a scrimmage like this, it’s difficult to tell the cause behind whatever happens at the line of scrimmage. If the pass rush is getting home regularly and the running game struggles, is that because of a strong defensive line performance or a bad offensive line showing? Or if the offense is thriving, is that because of a stout offensive line or woes on the defensive front?
The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Indiana’s offense had plenty of success, though, and the offensive line had plenty to do with that. Bob Bostad’s unit turned in a really strong campaign last season, and it could be even better this year. The line, for the most part, performed well in both pass-blocking and run-blocking. Left tackle Carter Smith continues to improve, and could be one of the better players at his position in the Big Ten this year. Notre Dame transfer Pat Coogan is a steady force at center. And the entire unit looked pretty cohesive, considering this was only April.
Guard Kahlil Benson didn’t play on Thursday, and Drew Evans remains out while recovering from an Achilles injury suffered last season. So Thursday’s offensive line wasn’t what IU will hope is its starting group in August. But the way the Hoosiers blocked in the spring game is a good sign for their offensive line’s potential in the fall.
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