Why Indiana's Bye Week Comes At An Important Time

Several Hoosiers are banged up as the regular season winds down, so it's a good time for a bye week as they prepare for a College Football Playoff run.

Indiana's Elijah Sarratt (13) celebrates a touchdown against UCLA at Memorial Stadium. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-TImes / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

No team is 100% healthy by the end of a 12-game regular season. And for Indiana, that has meant playing without several key players at various points.

Mikail Kamara, Aiden Fisher and D'Angelo Ponds were named All-Americans last season –– and Elijah Sarratt is the active FBS leader in receiving touchdowns –– yet each has battled injuries this season. Going 11-0 despite that adversity is a testament to Indiana's roster depth and coaching. It also shows how crucial the ongoing bye week could be.

Following Saturday's 31-7 win over Wisconsin, Indiana has the weekend off before wrapping up the regular season at Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game. A win would punch the Hoosiers' ticket to the Big Ten Championship game on Dec. 6 and likely lock them into a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti against Wisconsin at Memorial Stadium. | RIch Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Indiana's bye week comes at crucial time

After playing 11 games in a 77-day span from Aug. 30 to Nov. 15, the Hoosiers could have just three games over the following 45 or 46 days, beginning with a quarterfinal playoff game on Dec. 31 or Jan. 1. It'll be a much-needed opportunity to physically and mentally reset for the playoff push.

"It's huge," coach Curt Cignetti said Saturday. "And Mikail Kamara has been dealing with kind of a shoulder nerve stinger issue, which is pretty common for a football player. Those things tend to show up a lot more this time of year, a culmination of all the banging. 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."

Kamara led Indiana with 10 sacks last season, but he hasn't been as effective in 2025, sacking the quarterback just once. Indiana's defense has still managed to rank No. 2 nationally with just 11.6 points allowed per game and fourth in total yards per game, but it could use a boost from a healthier Kamara against top competition in the playoffs.

Indiana Hoosiers linebacker Aiden Fisher (4) and defensive lineman Mikail Kamara (6) celebrate against the Michigan State Spartans at Memorial Stadium. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Wide receiver Charlie Becker has filled in nicely for Sarratt, hauling in 12 receptions for 226 yards and a touchdown the last two weeks. But the Hoosiers' receiving corps could become even more dangerous soon, as ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Sarratt is "on track for a return against Purdue" after injuring his hamstring against Maryland on Nov. 1.

There's less certainty around injuries to left guard Drew Evans, who Cignetti said on Nov. 10 "will be a few weeks yet" before returning. Kickoff specialist Brendan Franker, who also made a 58-yard field goal at Oregon in one of his two attempts this season, hasn't played since sustaining a lower body injury against UCLA on Oct. 25.

During the Wisconsin game, Big Ten Network sideline reporter Brooke Fletcher said Indiana evaluated running back Kaelon Black for a neck injury, though he later returned to the game. Cignetti has used several running backs in an effort to keep each fresh, and that's worked out well so far with productive seasons from Roman Hemby, Black and Khobie Martin.

Now the Hoosiers have some important time off before a chance to turn an already historic season into more first-time accomplishments with the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff looming.

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