3 Storylines to watch for in Week 4 when Indiana football hosts Charlotte

Indiana football had 24 hours to celebrate its biggest victory in years against UCLA before Curt Cignetti and his staff switched the focus to their week four matchup against Charlotte.

While Charlotte comes into the game with a record of 1-2, they have shown in the past that they are capable of competing with Power Four competition.

“All eyes on Charlotte. Team that’s proven capable of playing up at a very competitive level,” Cignetti said to the media Monday.

“Last year, they played Maryland, led at halftime, one-score game in the fourth quarter. Florida was a ball game throughout the entire game. Carolina this year is a one-score game in the third quarter.”

Charlotte will be the last non-conference game of the regular season for Indiana before they get into the teeth of its Big Ten schedule with Maryland coming to Bloomington in week five.

The matchup against Charlotte will provide Indiana the chance to match their best start to a season this century.

Some storylines to follow for when Indiana football faces Charlotte on Saturday.

Can Indiana Football get Donaven McCulley going?

The 6-foot-5 receiver was a key returner from the 2023 season, but his time with Cignetti has been extremely rocky.

During the spring Cignetti singled McCulley out for his performance in camp.

After establishing himself as the ‘guy’ in the passing game in 2023, McCulley has struggled to find his role in the offense. The expectation was he would start alongside Elijah Sarratt but in week one he was lower on the depth chart than expected.

He made his only catch in the first half against Florida International but was injured on the play and missed the following week. He returned against UCLA but did not catch a pass in the win.

McCulley’s combination of size and speed makes him a dangerous weapon, but the offense has yet to get him going thus far. This week will be another opportunity to get the WR going.

Charlotte allowed 340 passing yards to FCS school Gardner-Webb and the Indiana offense should be able to exploit their secondary.

Getting McCulley more involved will only raise the ceiling of the offense as other threats like Sarratt, Omar Cooper Jr., Myles Price, and others have found success with quarterback Kurtis Rourke.

How does not knowing the starting QB affect the defense?

Charlotte’s quarterback injuries have created a mystery around the position. Three different players have taken snaps for the 49ers and the Indiana football defense will have to prepare for all three.

“Well, they’ve played three guys. Played two guys in the last game. Brought a guy in in the fourth quarter, an older guy. The backup was a younger guy,” Cignetti said about Charlotte’s quarterbacks. “So we’ll prepare for both schematically more so in terms of what they do, what they like to do.”

Charlotte has looked to throw the football more throughout this year and against Indiana’s strong run defense that trend will likely continue.

The Hoosier defense has been dominant allowing just 180.3 yards per game and 7.7 points per game.

Charlotte’s quarterback situation will provide an intriguing test for Bryant Haines’ unit as they have to prepare for multiple guys.

Will the Indiana defense’s dominance continue despite the peculiarity that will be this week’s preparation?

Can Indiana Football shut the door quickly?

In past years, Indiana football has struggled to put bad teams away quickly. In week one Florida International hung around a bit longer than Cignetti would have liked.

Then in week two the Hoosiers responded by putting Western Illinois away before the end of the first half.

Cignetti does not want a repeat of what happened when Charlotte played North Carolina in week two. While the Tar Heels wound up winning by 18, they led by just one possession in the third quarter of that game.

Putting away non-power four opponents early in games is a sign of a disciplined team. Cignetti has preached being disciplined and this week’s matchup with Charlotte will be a good test of that.

It can be easy to look ahead to the upcoming game against Maryland and the rest of the Big Ten schedule, but Charlotte has shown they can hang around with power-four teams.

Indiana football needs to stay locked in as they have been all season and handle their business against Charlotte on Saturday.

SEE ALSO: Pat McAfee gives high praise to IU football head coach Curt Cignetti

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