No. 2 Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media on Saturday following his team’s 31-7 win over Wisconsin to move to 11-0 in 2025.
With the Hoosiers entering a bye week after six straight
Saturdays of football, Cignetti noted it’ll be time for the team to rest up and, ideally, get some players back from injury.
“But it will be great to enter an off-week now and get the players some rest,” Cignetti said. “We’ve got to get some guys back. Got a lot of guys out there playing that are banged up, and we’ve got to get healed up as good as possible.”
Indiana has been without a few players for multiple weeks now. Drew Evans, the Hoosiers’ starter at left guard, suffered a lower-body injury late against UCLA and has been out ever since. Elijah Sarratt, the Hoosiers’ leading receiver, didn’t play against Maryland, Penn State, or Wisconsin as he recovers from a hamstring issue. Kicker Brendan Franke, who usually handles kickoffs, was likewise injured against UCLA and remains out.
Others have been playing through injury. Starting right tackle Kahlil Benson has left games at times, occasionally hobbling off, before retaking the field. Mikail Kamara, who starts at the stud position on the defensive line, was out for most of the Wisconsin game with a shoulder nerve stinger issue, Cignetti said.
“Those things tend to show up a lot more this time of year, a culmination of all the banging,” Cignetti said. “We have seven, eight guys in that same boat. But Kamara’s had been a lingering issue, and he’s another guy that needs rest and needs to get away.”
Indiana will rest over the bye week before traveling up north to take on Purdue in the annual showdown for the Old Oaken Bucket.
