#15 Excel H Sports Ranked Hoosiers Survive Monarchs Running Quarterback

    The #15 Excel H Sports Ranked Indiana Hoosiers overcame a shaky first half to open the 2025 season with a 27-14 win over the Old Dominion Monarchs Saturday afternoon on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium.

   Old Dominion who is Ranked #21 in the Excel H Sports Beyond the Power 4 got the ball first on the first play from scrimmage Quarterback Colton Joseph kept the ball on the option and ran it 75 yards to the house as the Indiana defense was not even close to him and the Monarchs struck first 11 seconds into the game leading 7-0.

   The Hoosiers had an 11 play 69-yard drive stalled as they could not punch it in from the goal line as Ferando Mendoza’s pass to Riley Nowakowski was incomplete and was broke up by Nickendre Stiger and the Monarchs got a big stop with 9:44 left in the first quarter.

  The Hoosiers forced the Monarchs to punt on their second possession Indiana got the ball back as Lee Bebee. Jr ran the ball nine yards and Stiger knocked the ball out and Bortos Alisandro who played the last two seasons for the Purdue Boilermakers recovered for ODU and Monarchs got a second takeaway after a 7 play 66-yard drive that denied the Hoosiers.

  Old Dominion punted for a second time with 9 seconds left in the first quarter and Jonathan Brady made them pay with 91-yard punt return for a touchdown that tied the game 7-7. It was the first time since 2021 that the Hoosiers had a punt return for a touchdown. Indiana added a 22-yard field goal from Nico Radicic to make it 10-7 for the Hoosiers with 10:03 left in the second quarter. The Hoosiers’ defense came to life picking off Colton Joseph two times, with the first by Amare Farrell and the second by Louis Moore.

   Cal Transfer Fernando Mendoza scored on a 5-yard touchdown run for his first as a Hoosier with 3:36 left before the half as the Hoosiers pushed the lead to 17-7. Old Dominion had 8 possessions in the first half and after the first possession the Monarchs punted the ball 4 times and had 2 interceptions and their last drive ended the half.

  Indiana missed a 52-yard field goal by Brendan Franke who kicked instead of Radicic and hit the cross bar. On August 18, Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti said he had a lot of confidence as Cignetti said he has been blessed with a lot of kickers the last 7 years and Radicic is no exception according to Cignetti but there will be questions on why he went with the Transfer from Texas State instead of his returning kicker who only missed on field goal all season in 2024.

   Indiana controlled the third quarter, scoring on both of their possessions while ODU punted on both. Kaelon Black scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 11:28 left in the third quarter to make it 24-7 for the Hoosiers and then Radicic kicked a 22-yard field goal with 3:02 left to make it 27-7 and his second field goal of the game.

 

   Indiana picked off Colton Joseph for a third time by D’Angelo Ponds with 10:32 left in the game. The Hoosiers punted for the second time in the game with 8:14 left as Joseph tore through the Hoosier defense for his second rushing touchdown of the game this time going for 78 yards making it 27-14 with 6:53 left in the fourth quarter.

  Joseph finished 179 yards rushing for 10 carries and 2 touchdowns. The 6-2 Redshirt Sophomore from Newport Beach California went 11-22 passing for 93 yards no touchdowns and three interceptions.

  The Monarchs carried the ball 23 times for 218 yards as Maruki James and Ke’Travion Hargrove combined for 39 yards on 13 carries. Gladdin Na’eem Abdul-Rahim was the leading receiver for the Monarchs with 4 receptions for 35 yards. Old Dominion controlled the ball for 18 minutes and 32 seconds with 11 first downs going 4-10 on third down conversions and running 45 total plays.

 

   Purdue Transfer Bortos Alisandro had 7 tackles inducing 3 solo and a pass breakup and a fumble recovery. Seth Naotala who played for Curt Cignetti at James Madison finished with 4 tackles and 1 solo. Safety Mario Easterly led the Monarchs with 13 tackles including 4 solo and 1 for loss. Jerome Carter had 11 tackles including 9 solos.

 

   Fernando Mendoza finished 18-31 passing for 193 yards with no touchdown passes or interceptions and had 6 carries for 34 yards and was sacked just once. Maryland Transfer Roman Hemby was the leading rusher for the Hoosiers with 110 yards on 23 carries.

 

  Kaelon Black had 92 yards on 17 carries, and a touchdown and Lee Bebee Jr. had 11 carries for 73 yards as Cignetti said going into this game all three were going to get a lot of carries as the Hoosiers ran it 57 times for 309 yards and two touchdowns.

  Mendoza spread the ball around throwing to nine different receivers with E.J. Williams Jr getting 42 yards on five receptions. Omar Copper Jr. had 52 yards receiving with 2 catches, but he dropped one on a third downplay that led to Indiana going for the field goal.

  Elijah Sarratt had 3 catches for 44 yards, and he did not have a target in the first half. The Hoosiers had 28 first downs, 10-17 on third downs and 0-2 on fourth downs. The Hoosiers ran 89 plays and controlled the ball for 41 minutes and 28 seconds and went 4-7 in the red zone.

  Louis Moore who has been cleared to play though the first two games had seven total tackles 4 solo, an interception and a pass breakup. Moore sued the NCAA so that he could play this season and a Texas Judge has granted a temporary restraining order that keeps him eligible through September 10 which is 2 days before the Hoosiers host Indiana State.

  Moore first enrolled at Navarro Junior College in Texas in 2019 and was redshirted that season. Navarro’s 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and moved to the spring of 2021. Moore played for the Hoosiers in 2022 and 2023 and went to Ole Miss in 2024 before transferring back to Indiana this season. The NCAA allowed all athletes to get an extra year in 2020 due to the cancelation of all sports. It is unclear what will happen after September 10 if Moore and get another injunction he could play the rest of the season.

   Indiana is 1-0 and will host Kennesaw State at Noon next Saturday. The Owls lost to Wake Forest 10-9 Friday Night in Winston Salem. Indiana will see a familiar face at quarterback as Dexter Williams II who played at Indiana in the 2022 season and missed the 2023 season due to injury.

   Williams passed 12-33 for 149 yards, no touchdown passes and no interceptions along with 44 yards rushing on 14 carries. The Macon, Georgia native transferred to Georgia Southern in 2024 and then to Kennesaw State for his final season as he will lead the Owls into his old stomping grounds to face the Hoosiers.

   Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti was not happy with the performance tell the radio voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer on the post-game show “A Pedestrian Win at Best”. Cignetti was looking for a “Cleaner Performance” and the Hoosiers in the Red Zone was “The Understatement of the year and we weren’t very good in the red area” Cignetti Said.

   Indiana has a lot to work on to get ready for the next game but the Hoosiers did what they were supposed to do and that is take care of business at home to start the season and build on what did and did not go well and get ready for game two next Saturday against a hungry and motivated Kennesaw State team that will have their Quarterback ready to prove himself against his former team.