5 Takeaways From Indiana's 38-0 Win Over Western Kentucky

The Indiana Hoosiers moved to 3-0 with a 38-0 win over Western Kentucky on Saturday evening to close out their non-conference slate. Indiana is ranked fourth nationally and has outscored their opponents 145-16. Despite the dominance, the Hoosiers are facing plenty of questions. Here are five takeaways from Saturday's win.

1. The Becker-Marsh Duo Broke Loose

After a week filled with controversy surrounding Nick Marsh's usage in IU's win over Howard, he found his way back into the starting lineup and made a big impact in the Hoosiers' win. Marsh had a team-leading seven receptions for 81 yards. He showed strength and the ability to also be an excellent perimeter blocker.

Becker, who also returned punts, continued his hot start with five catches for 127 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown where he adjusted to an underthrown pass and outran a defender to the end zone.

For the Hoosiers, it was encouraging to get both of their star receivers going in the same game. It will put opposing defenses in binds that will be tough to get out of.

79 YARD TD FOR CHARLIE BECKER 💥 @IndianaFootball

Watch on Peacock pic.twitter.com/36sqhC64Jd
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 19, 2026

2. Hoover Making the Right Decisions on First Down

Indiana was unstoppable on first down against Western Kentucky. On 33 first down plays, the Hoosiers gained 337 yards, 205 of them coming via the pass. With Western Kentucky bailing early, Josh Hoover made the right read on the RPO nearly every time. IU was 12-12 passing on first downs.
"A lot of that was RPOs when they bailed. We had, you know, the easy gift throw.” Curt Cignetti said in his postgame press conference.

There has been plenty of criticism of Hoover's footwork and accuracy the last two games, but he was great on first down, which sets Indiana's offense up for success.

3. Hoosiers Missing Nico Radicic

Indiana placekicker Nico Radicic missed his second straight game due to an injury on Saturday. It was also the second straight game that backup placekicker Paddy McAteer missed a kick. This time it was a 54-yard field goal attempt on Indiana's first drive.

While a 54-yard attempt is a high degree of difficulty, McAteer did not strike the ball well and may have spooked Curt Cignetti into going for it on fourth down a couple of times later in the game.

Radicic's absence did affect play calling and ultimately kept points off the scoreboard, and that will need to be fixed in conference play.

4. Is Depth an Issue?

Indiana has tried to take the air out of the ball as much as possible as they steamrolled through a soft non-conference schedule. Last week they took five minutes off the fourth quarter and in both the win over North Texas and tonight against WKU, they just chewed up the clock late in the fourth quarter.

Coach Cignetti seemed relieved that Indiana got out of the three non-conference games as quickly as possible.

"We were more interested in shortening and getting out of the game instead of risking the chance of somebody (getting hurt) - because we are thin in some positions," Cignetti said. "Even when you emptied the bench, you're still thin at certain positions, so that's part of the management of the team a lot of times that never gets talked about."

The Hoosiers were again without starting cornerback AJ Harris and were missing reserve wide receiver Lebron Bond. The good news for IU is that they did get cornerback Jamari Sharpe back and first year players defensive lineman Blake Smythe and tight end Trevor Gibbs made their season debuts.

5. Becker Takes Over Punt Return Duties

After muffing two punts against Howard last week, Tyler Morris found himself being replaced as Indiana's punt returner. While it was not really a surprise that IU would try someone else back there, it was a bit of a shock that it was Charlie Becker.

"Today, he was," Cignetti said of Becker being a punt returner. "I'm on the staff about getting the No. 2 guy in there at the end of the game, but we're telling him just fair catch it, because today would've been (Amare) Ferrell, right? And you'll see Tyler (Morris) again back there. We just thought we would give him a little break because we don't want that to get in his head."

Becker was solid as a returner, getting 17 yards on his only attempt while he fair caught another and had a couple that were not playable.

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