Indiana Football Game Preview: FIU – key questions, injury report, how to watch

After nearly 10 months of waiting, it finally time for the Curt Cignetti era of Indiana football to official kickoff with the first of the 2024 season on Saturday, August 31st. In this week one matchup, the Hoosiers will host the FIU Golden Panthers.

Indiana football overhauled its roster in 2024, as head coach Curt Cignetti brought in 54 newcomers, which includes 30 transfers. Thirteen of those transfers arrived from James Madison.

The Hoosiers are looking to usher in a new era of the program after Tom Allen was let go at the end of the 2023 season. The Hoosiers went just 3-9 last season, missing out on a bowl game for the third straight season. The Hoosiers have won 11 straight non-conference home season openers.

The home contest marks the first of eight home games for the Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium this season, tied for its most in program history with the 2013 and 2008 season.

The game will stream live on BTN.

Below is the full game preview of everything you need to know about Saturday’s Week 1 matchup.

Key Questions

What will the first game of the Curt Cignetti era look like? 

The wait is finally over, the Curt Cignetti era of Indiana football is here whether you are ready or not. Luckily, I think Hoosiers nation has been ready for a long time for a serious football program.

Cignetti comes into this year as the new coach of Indiana football as one of the winningest head coaches that is on the college game. Cignetti has been a head coach for 13 years now and has never seen a losing season during his tenure. When he was hired last last year, the culture of this program changed in heartbeat with a new swagger and feel.

“I’m not going to tolerate not being successful, said Cignetti. “I want to make that clear right off the bat.”

With this confidence that Cignetti has brought in plus the resume, the expectations are already extremely high and we have not even seen this new look Indiana football squad on the field all that much.

The anticipation is high this weekend for Indiana football as the 2024 season officially kicks off. The talk is over, time to see what Curt Cignetti is all about.

Is Kurtis Roarke good as advertised? 

With how long of an offseason it has been, all signs point to Ohio senior transfer Kurtis Roarke being the starting quarterback of Indiana football with second-year Hoosier Tayven Jackson becoming the backup.

When he entered the transfer portal this offseason, Roarke was one of the top quarterback options that Indiana could have went after. He has 33 starts under his belt in his collegiate career and has thrown for 7,651 yards and 50 touchdowns.

Indiana’s quarterback situation has been extremely rocky the past few season with zero consistency. Cignetti has preached production over potential’ and that’s the case with Kurtis Rourke. The new quarterback for Indiana has a lot of tools you want for your team to be successful.

“Rourke stacks days,” Cignetti said. “He had an off day or two last week. Or maybe he wasn’t real good in seven on seven, came back and had a really good two-minute drill. Something like that. But for the most part, he’s been playing good football now.”

Roarke seems to be the ‘guy’ for this Indiana football team live up to high expectations that have been set. Only time will tell, however.

Related: 5 storylines to follow for Indiana football heading into the 2024 season

Matchup History

The matchup marks the first time the two programs have faced one another since 2018, when the Hoosiers defeated FIU, 38-28, in a road contest in Miami. This will be the fourth all-time meeting between the teams. Indiana leads the all-time series, 3-0.

Indiana football will open a season with a home non-conference game for the first time since 2015. Overall, in non-conference home season openers, Indiana owns a 25-3 overall mark since 1953 – the first year the Big Ten fielded 10 teams in the conference.

The Hoosiers have won 11 straight non-conference home season openers dating back to a 41-38 loss against NC State to start the 2000 season.

Watch: Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti previews Week 1 matchup with FIU

Injury Updates

Indiana

OUT: OL Nick Kidwell (season, knee)

Trending: Veteran Indiana football running backs positioned to make an immediate impact

Quick Hitters

Who?: Indiana (0-0) vs FIU (0-0)

When?: Saturday, Aug. 31 | 3:30 ET

Where?: Memorial Stadium (Bloomington, Ind.)

TV: BTN

Radio: Indiana Hoosiers Sports Network

Spread: Indiana football is a 21-point favorite per DraftKings SportsBook

SEE ALSO: ‘You get better or you get worse. You never stay the same’: Curt Cignetti sees ‘significant tangible strides’ for Indiana football as fall camp wraps up

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