BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football players had a muted reaction to jumping into the top 25 this week.
The Hoosiers are happy with the 5-0 start — the program’s best start since 1967 — but as coach Curt Cignetti told reporters on Monday — “this is a team that’s a little bit on a mission.”
That’s why players made a renewed call in the locker room to block out all the noise as they prepare for Northwestern.
“We can’t get lost in that,” Indiana tight end Zach Horton said.
Horton was part of the 2022 James Madison team that lost three straight after breaking into the top 25 for the first time in program history.
“We went and played Georgia Southern and just like that we lost the ranking so we can’t get caught up on that stuff, and just keep playing our brand of ball,” Horton said.
Let’s jump into our weekly preview, The Runout, for what else stood out during the week, players to watch, a prediction and more:
More: Is Indiana football a surprise 5-0 team? Not to coach Curt Cignetti
Indiana football vs. Northwestern: Tale of the tape
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When: Saturday, Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m. ET
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Where: Martin Stadium (12,023), Evanston, Illinois
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TV: Big Ten Network
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Line: Indiana -13.5
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Series: Northwestern leads 47-35-1
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Last meeting: Northwestern def. Indiana, 34-3, on Nov. 2, 2019
More: Indiana football WR Donaven McCulley enters transfer portal midseason
Indiana football players to watch vs Northwestern
Elijah Sarratt, WR: Sarratt was Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke’s go-to-target in the second half against Maryland, but that wasn’t a surprising development.
Sarratt has been a steady presence on the offense as the coaching staff has rotated all the pieces around him. He’s played the most snaps of any IU receiver (254) by a wide margin and has a team-high 32 targets.
“He loves ball, he’s very competitive,” Cignetti said. “He’s got good talent. He’s got great ball skills. He’s really good at contested catches. He’s always up.”
He was targeted 10 times against the Terps — a season-high among all the receivers — and had his second 100-yard game of the year. He leads the teams in receptions (22) and receiving yards (378).
While Sarratt doesn’t have blazing speed like Myles Price, he’s been the Hoosiers’ most consistent deep threat with four catches of 20 yards or more through the air. He will look to repeat that success on Saturday against a Northwestern team that hasn’t given up many explosive plays this season.
Zach Horton, TE: Horton made an outstanding catch against Maryland while diving backwards toward the ball.
The 18-yard gain was his only catch in the last two games, but that hasn’t stopped him from garnering attention from pundits and opposing coaches who have applauded his effort in the run game.
With IU sticking mainly to 11 personnel — sets featuring three receivers, one running back and one tight end — Horton has taken the most snaps on offense behind the offensive line and Rourke.
He’s thrived in the multi-faceted role that calls for him to be an inline blocker, a slot receiver or split out wide sometimes during a single drive.
Horton could see a few more passes come his way this weekend against a Northwestern team that has struggled with covering tight ends this season.
CJ West, DT: West’s increased workload (41 snaps) against Maryland is a positive sign for the defense. He had a sack on the opening drive and four stops in the run game including one for no gain.
Indiana had one of the more productive defensive fronts in the Big Ten — first in sacks (17) and first in tackles for losses (35) — and West seems to be just scratching the surface of what he’s capable of.
More: Mind Your Banners: Resetting expectations after IU’s 5-0 start
Week 6 Odds and Ends
Wildcat rising: Northwestern running back Cam Porter sat out against Washington with a lower-body injury. Braun said he was “trending in the right direction” on Tuesday. He was the team’s leading rusher last year and ran for 234 yards (5.32 yards per carry) in the team’s first three games. The team struggled in his absence with just 59 total rushing yards in a loss to Washington. Braun did rule out starting center Jack Bailey, who suffered a season-ending injury before the bye week, and said starting defensive tackle Carmine Bastone was doubtful.
Red zone channel: Indiana’s success inside the 20-yard line has been a key factor in the program’s gaudy scoring numbers. The Hoosiers led the FBS in red zone attempts (30), red zone scores (27) and touchdowns (25). Northwestern’s red zone numbers are…not good — 13 attempts (tied for No. 101 in the FBS), nine scores (t-No. 108) and just six touchdowns (t-No. 107). Braun traced Northwestern’s struggles to a lack of offensive identity and special teams woes since the Wildcats have missed three field goals from inside the 20-yard line).
Pressure moments: Indiana allowed a season-high three sacks against Maryland, but the team’s overall pass protection held up pretty well. Rourke was only pressured on six of his 39 dropbacks and the Terps didn’t have a single pressure without blitzing, according to Pro Football Focus. The Hoosiers will be hard to beat if the offensive line maintains that level of success.
Stat of the week
40: Indiana has scored 40-plus points in four straight games for the first time since the end of the 2015 season. The Hoosiers went 2-2 during that stretch and both losses came in overtime. Indiana has a chance to make history this weekend — the program has never scored 40 or more points in five straight games.
Quote of the week
“I’m not surprised. I pretty much told everybody when I got hired that this is what was possible, and I felt strongly about that after we brought the 2022 transfers in December and added a few more at the end of spring ball and saw the culture come together the way it did. But we had to put it on the field. So I knew it was possible because I’d kind of been a part of something like this before,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti on the team’s 5-0 start
Prediction: Indiana 33, Northwestern 10
Indiana has lost nine straight games at Northwestern going back to 1993, but that lack of success in Evanston won’t matter much to a new-look Hoosiers squad making history by the week. The Wildcats simply don’t have the offensive firepower — the team’s quarterback situation is a mess while their best player (Porter) is less than 100 percent — to keep up with IU for four quarters.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Everything you need to know about IU football facing Northwestern
