Indiana Had Better Show Drastic Improvement in the Run Game in Week 2

We don't need to sound the alarms after a never-in-doubt win vs. North Texas to kick off the 2026 season. It's a long season, and for Indiana under Curt Cignetti, the two-year sample size would suggest that plenty of never-in-doubt victories await.

But ahead of the Week 2 matchup against Howard, there's an obvious area of improvement for the defending champs.

That Week 1 run-game performance wasn't up to the Indiana standard. At all.

IU has an extremely atypical rushing stat to turn around

Let's start with the obvious. IU was outrushed 152-134 by a North Texas team that had virtually no continuity in the trenches with a new coaching staff. Granted, IU only got to 134 rushing yards after backup quarterback Grant Wilson scampered into the end zone for a 43-yard score during garbage time.

IU's 2-headed rushing attack of Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr. had 29 carries for 91 yards. A 3.1 yards/carry average from IU's backfield was obviously a far cry from the 5.2 yards/carry clip that last year's 1-2 punch, Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black, ran for as the backbone of the offense.

Will the eventual return of Khobie Martin help? Sure, but it's also not an excuse for IU's offensive line creating minimal running lanes in a favorable Week 1 matchup.

On the flip side, that was the worst rushing defense performance that IU's decorated front seven surrendered since, ironically enough, the 2025 season opener against Old Dominion. After allowing 218 yards in the 2025 debut, IU didn't allow more than 117 in a game the rest of the undefeated season.

The positive takeaway from that day was that IU still ran for 309 yards, so it won the rushing battle. The only time that IU lost the rushing battle in 2025 was the thriller at Penn State when the Lions finished with a slim 117-108 advantage.

IU getting out-rushed by 18 yards against North Texas in the 2026 opener was the program's worst rushing yardage disparity in a game since ... the Playoff loss at Notre Dame. Yuck.

And yeah, Jahiem White is a solid player and a former standout back at West Virginia. There's still no excuse for IU to lose the rushing battle to North Texas. You can bet that Curt Cignetti told his team as much, even if he did brush off any sort of long-term concerns with that area.

Curt Cignetti says running game Saturday was "fine ... based on the way we were being played." Said North Texas loaded up against the run, contributing to all the single coverage Josh Hoover exploited. #iufb
— Zach Osterman (@ZachOsterman) September 7, 2026

Of Richard's 58 yards on the ground, 47 of them came after first contact.

For what it's worth, that's a good sign for Richard that he ran through contact. He looked the part of his nickname after coming over from Boston College. He also had a long touchdown run that was called back on what appeared to be a ticky-tack holding call.

While the space to operate was somewhat limited, his ability to finish off runs was on full display.

Turbo Richard gets on the board 💥 @IndianaFootball

Watch on FOX pic.twitter.com/cEv3fNkEdN
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 5, 2026

Surely, adjustments are coming in the run game

By adjustments, I don't just mean slightly cooler game-time temperatures. I wouldn't expect some sort of schematic overhaul, but rather, tweaks in play-calling to help get that group going downhill.

If there's something you can trust with this staff, it's making necessary adjustments in the run game.

Under Cignetti, IU hasn't allowed consecutive 120-yard rushing performances. It also hasn't had consecutive games of losing the rushing battle since the 2024 Michigan-Ohio State games.

In 2026, IU has plenty of time to figure out the new run-game identity before that 2-week stretch. This weekend against an FCS team feels like a good place to start.

If we don't see IU's decorated offensive and defensive lines set the tone in the run game, it'll be noteworthy.

And dare I say, sound those alarms.

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