With 'Target on Our Back,' Indiana Football Ready for 'War' vs. Old Dominion

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Aiden Fisher remembers it all. The sold-out crowd, the smoke on the field when he and his teammates ran out of the tunnel, and ultimately, a narrow three-point win.

The last time Fisher, now one of the nation's best linebackers at Indiana, faced Old Dominion University came Oct. 28, 2023, when he played for James Madison University.

Now, Fisher will start his final season with a rematch against the Monarchs, who travel to Bloomington for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium.

Times have changed since the last matchup. Fisher traded his purple jersey and gold helmet for the cream and crimson. He and his Hoosier teammates, some of whom also faced Old Dominion in 2023, are ranked No. 20 nationally and seeking to prove last year’s 11-2 mark was the start of a new era of Indiana football.

Fisher, perhaps the Hoosiers' best leader on a roster full of quality voices, expects the Monarchs to come in ready to play, and play physically. He knows their mentality — he and James Madison defeated Power Four team Virginia in 2023, and he was fueled by the idea that he wasn't good enough to play there.

It created an edge that ultimately led to victory. He thinks Old Dominion will enter Memorial Stadium with the same mindset Saturday afternoon.

"A lot of those guys probably weren't recruited highly or transferred," Fisher said Tuesday. "So, I know, kind of, the message being sent to them, and it's one that will get you going. But we have the target on our back, so we're expecting it when they come in here."

From the start of fall camp onward, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has stressed the challenge he believes Old Dominion presents. Cignetti and the Dukes played in the Sun Belt Conference, and Cignetti saw the conference’s talent first hand.

He also watched as several Sun Belt teams upset Power Four opponents. He calls the list of teams who've been beaten by Sun Belt foes "a who's who in the top 15," including Michigan, Notre Dame, LSU and Florida.

Old Dominion nearly added South Carolina to the list in Week 1 last season. The Gamecocks won 23-19, aided by a pair of turnovers from the Monarchs that occurred inside their own 10-yard line. South Carolina's touchdown drives were three and six yards.

The Monarchs finished the season with a 5-7 record, though all but one of their losses were by one possession. Cignetti scanned the room of reporters and emphasized his point during his press conference Monday.

"We've got to be ready to go," Cignetti said. "It's all about us and our preparation, having the right mindset, and going out there and playing our brand of ball with a bunch of new faces."

Old Dominion's offense is in a similar position. The Monarchs don't return a single receiver who caught a pass for them last season, and they lost their top two running backs.

But there's also plenty of continuity in important spots. Old Dominion returns four of its five starting offensive linemen — all but center Ryan Joyce, a transfer from Fordham — and redshirt sophomore quarterback Colton Joseph, who started eight of nine appearances last season.

Joseph completed 59.9% of his passes for 1,627 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions while adding 114 rushes for 647 yards and 11 scores on the ground.

Cignetti said Joseph can win with both his arm and legs, which poses a difficult challenge for Fisher and the Hoosiers' defense.

"It's just another threat that can make things happen with the ball in his hands," Fisher said about Joseph. "He's a good passer, but a really good runner. He uses speed a lot. He likes to get out of the pocket. He can cause problems once he's out of the pocket scrambling. Guys will find a way to get open and get vertical on you quick.

"So, you got to work on keeping him in the pocket. When he does get out, you got to chase him down, get him down, and then receivers, you got to kind of glue to them and make sure we're having our scrambling mechanics on point."

And while the Monarchs have new faces at each of the skill positions apart from quarterback, Indiana doesn't expect their identity to change.

Old Dominion coach Ricky Rahne and offensive coordinator Kevin Decker prioritize speed and spacing, Cignetti said.

"They're going to spread you out," Cignetti said. "Big, wide splits. Force you to defend the whole field and with the blocks count and the advantage throws and get the run game going. They've always been high in the conference in rushing, and they do a really nice job.

"They try to create space through their alignments and take advantage to put themselves in the best play."

Fisher added Old Dominion's up-tempo offense will force Indiana to move faster pre-snap, which, coupled with the Monarchs' spread-heavy approach, creates plenty of challenges for opposing defenses.

"They're going to go fast tempo. They're going to spread you out. They're going to try to run the ball. They're going to try to fling it out to the perimeter," Fisher said. "So, they're going to come out, they're going to be quick, they're going to be fast. We just got to move in faster tempo and kind of make sure we're staying on top of things."

Old Dominion's sixth-year defensive coordinator Blake Seiler will be responsible for slowing Indiana's offense. The Monarchs ranked No. 102 out of 134 FBS teams in total defense last season, allowing 410.4 yards per game. They gave up 28 points per game.

Seiler's unit played without 2023 All-American linebacker Jason Henderson for all but one game in 2024, as Henderson recovered from a knee injury sustained late in 2023. Henderson totaled 170 tackles and 19.5 tackles for loss across 12 games in 2023, and he led the FBS with 14.2 tackles per game.

Cignetti singled out Henderson's presence in the middle of Old Dominion's defense, which features a three-three scheme with three defensive linemen and three linebackers.

"A little different than what you see," Cignetti said. "Variety of blitzes and looks. It's a challenge."

Though Old Dominion has fewer bodies up front, it has bigger-bodied edge defenders. Redshirt senior Kris Trinidad is 6-foot-5, 272 pounds, while senior Ricardo Williams Jr. is 6-foot-2 and 292 pounds.

Indiana redshirt junior left tackle Carter Smith said the size of the Monarchs' defensive ends isn't a new phenomenon for him, but the scheme itself requires more attention to detail than usual.

"It's just our targets," Smith said. "All of our assignments are pretty much the same, other than one guy being off the line, maybe. So, it's just something we have to prepare for a little bit more in the film room, and then it'll translate on the field."

Indiana has a few other friends to lean on during preparation, which officially began Aug. 22.

Old Dominion has the same coach and coordinators as the last time Cignetti, Fisher, receiver Elijah Sarratt, running back Kaelon Black and others faced the Monarchs in 2023. Indiana's third-string quarterback, Grant Wilson, transferred from Old Dominion in the winter.

Fisher also said he's talked to some of his former James Madison teammates about the Dukes' 35-32 victory over Old Dominion last season, learning the rights and wrongs from their mid-November showdown.

Indiana's leaders, be it Cignetti, Fisher, or the now-social media-less Smith, aren't overlooking Old Dominion. Cignetti wants it to carry down throughout his team — because he's all too familiar with the consequences that may come if it doesn't.

"Hopefully we have their full attention throughout the week and on Saturday," Cignetti said. "Camp is important. You're establishing the habits that are going to carry you through the season, installing, developing players, learning about your team.

"Now it's time to go to war. It's serious business now."

And that business doesn't start when conference play begins Week 1. It kicks off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday inside Memorial Stadium — when Indiana hopes it doesn't become the next team on an ever-growing list of Sun Belt upsets.

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