Indiana football position grades halfway through the regular season

Indiana v Northwestern — Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Handing out grades for each of the Hoosiers’ position groups through six games of play.

Six games and six wins later, all of a sudden we’re halfway through Indiana’s regular season slate.

Those six wins have locked up a postseason appearance, so the Hoosiers will be playing in at minimum 13 games. The rest of the schedule presents an opportunity to boost that number should Indiana capitalize in the latter half of year one of the Curt Cignetti era.

With that in mind, let’s go through all of Indiana’s position groups and see how they’ve held up this year, starting with the offense:

Quarterback: A+

Indiana added former Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke through the transfer portal this offseason to run Cignetti’s offensive system.

He came to Bloomington with a ton of potential. Rourke had an incredible 2022 season for the Bobcats before a few setbacks in 2023 cast some doubt on his future. He’s rewriting that story with the Hoosiers.

Rourke is not just one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten. He’s been one of the best in the country.

He’s third in the Big Ten in passing yards with 1,752, just behind Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel and Washington’s Will Rogers, with the latter having played one more game than either of the former. He’s tied for first in touchdown passes with 14, equaling Ohio State’s Will Howard and Illinois’ Luke Altmeyer.

Rourke has tossed just two interceptions, both to Maryland defenders. He’s averaging 10.9 yards per attempt, which leads the league, and is completing 73.8% of his passes.

He’s a prospect to watch in next spring’s NFL Draft and has more than delivered for the Indiana staff that brought him to Bloomington.

Offensive Line: A-

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 14 Indiana at UCLA

After spending years as a common topic of discussion when it came to the Hoosiers’ issues on offense, Indiana’s line has emerged in year two under position coach Bob Bostad and has remained stout in giving the Hoosiers’ passing game and running backs space to get the ball downfield.

Mike Katic has years of experience at the college level which have paid dividends as he leads the group from the center spot. The group of Carter Smith, Drew Evans, Katic, Bray Lynch and Trey Wedig probably hasn’t gotten enough credit for its effort on the season.

It’s a promising sign, particularly for the future, that the position has turned around as relatively quickly as it has.

Wide Receivers: A

Indiana’s offense has done a remarkable job of spreading the ball around in the passing game. No one receiver dominates the field or demands the ball.

Multiple members of the room are a threat to defenses in the short and intermediate areas of the field. Through six weeks, six different wide receivers have hauled in passes for touchdowns.

The room lost something when Donaven McCulley elected to enter the portal midseason, but has more than enough talent to keep the passing game elite.

Leading the way has been former James Madison star Elijah Sarratt, who has 513 yards and two touchdowns on the season. He’s prone to catching the ball and dragging would-be tacklers as far as he can to pick up additional yards.

Omar Cooper Jr., Myles Price, Miles Cross and Ke’Shawn Williams have also shown they can be dangerous with the ball in their hands. It’s been an issue for opposing secondaries through six games and projects to continue.

Tight Ends: B+

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SEP 28 Maryland at Indiana

Indiana’s tight ends haven’t really stuffed the stat sheet, with 11 receptions and two touchdowns on the year, but that’d be discounting their role to solely mention that.

Again, the Hoosiers have had a very productive running element to the offense through six games. That’s not possible without guys like Zach Horton recognizing defenses and staying true to blocking assignments.

Can’t really give an A here due to lack of receiving production, but there’s more than enough wide receivers getting the ball and the group has far, far from harmed the team’s fortunes.

Defensive Line: A

One thing that caught a few peoples’ eyes on Cignetti’s first Indiana staff was the presence of two coaches for the defensive line: Pat Kuntz working with the defensive tackles and Buddha Williams with the defensive ends.

That staff placement says a lot about where an emphasis is and so far the line has absolutely produced.

Indiana is second in the Big Ten in sacks with 19 and tackles for loss with 41. Mikhail Kamara has tormented opposing tackles with five sacks on the year while C.J. West has proven to be an absolute handful to interior linemen. If it’s neither of those two, James Carpenter is a threat to get in the backfield as well.

Linebackers: A

To those paying attention, it was clear that Aiden Fisher could be among the top linebackers in the Big Ten once he elected to transfer to Indiana from JMU. Joining him was fellow former Duke Jailin Walker.

That duo is first and second on the team in tackles, with Fisher showing his versatility in coverage and getting into the backfield should Haines call for him to do so. The group’s depth was tested when Walker exited the game against Northwestern with an injury, and it answered the call to help deliver the Hoosiers’ sixth win of the year.

Defensive Backs: B

I’d have this group higher were it not for a few lapses with quarterbacks being able to go deep as Jack Lausch did to keep Northwestern in the game in the second half.

That comes with a caveat. When the Hoosiers have needed it most, this group has stepped up in the fourth quarter, remaining firm in coverage and getting stops to get the ball back to the offense. Slamming the door.

They have not wilted when explosive plays happen. They move on and keep playing. It’s the sign of a good, well coached group.

Special Teams: A

It probably says something about the Hoosiers’ offense that I tried to find a picture of punter James Evans to feature here, but wasn’t able to since they were all from 2023.

When he takes the field, Evans has been a very reliable punter who pins teams deep. Placekicker Nicolas Radicic is perfect on field goals and extra points on the year as well.

Absolutely no complains.