Meet Your Insider
Well hello, Hoosier Nation, and welcome to The Cover Window! I'm Mallory Penhallow, former Miss Monroe County runner-up, and these days I run a 40-tab efficiency model on everything this football team does. I travel with the team, I live with the numbers, and yes, the clicker is rhinestone. My pageant answer to every question is the same: "It's the explosives, darling." Each week I give one opponent my honorary Miss Congeniality sash. It goes to whoever I roast the hardest, and I always do it with love. When we win, you get the full pageant wave. When we lose, it's "grace in defeat". and then I quietly open tab 41.
The School in 60 Seconds
Before Curt Cignetti showed up, Indiana had the most losses of any program in college football, 713 of them over 130-plus years. It had won three bowl games in its whole history, and the last one came in 1991. Then 2025 happened. The Hoosiers went 16-0 and beat Miami 27-21 at Hard Rock Stadium on Jan. 19, 2026, to win their first national championship. The last team to win 16 games without a loss was Yale in 1894. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman, and he scored the deciding touchdown himself on a 12-yard run on fourth-and-4. Cignetti's quote still sounds like an acceptance speech to me: "We won the national championship at Indiana University. It can be done."
The Coach and the Scheme
Cignetti was hired on Nov. 30, 2023. Part of his rebuild came from bringing 13 transfers with him from his old school, James Madison. The 2026 numbers show what this team is. On offense, Indiana averages 36.6 points and 449.3 yards a game. It runs for 5.67 yards a carry, and Josh Hoover has 18 touchdown passes with no interceptions. On defense, the Hoosiers allow 12.9 points a game, which ranks 4th in FBS. Opponents gain only 2.28 yards a carry, and Indiana has 24 sacks against 10 allowed. The team has lost just three turnovers all season and gives up 30.7 penalty yards a game, 3rd-fewest in FBS. Clean football is my love language.
Players to Know
QB Josh Hoover: 1,660 yards, 18 TD, 0 INT, 63.9% completions. Against Ohio State he landed on his right shoulder, missed one play and came back. I found no official status for Saturday as of Oct. 18.
RB Turbo Richard: 643 yards on 87 carries, 6 TD. RB Lee Beebe: 575 yards on 107 carries, 4 TD.
WR Charlie Becker: 39 catches, 694 yards, 8 TD, including 9 for 165 against Ohio State. WR Nick Marsh: 32 catches, 585 yards, 7 TD.
Tobi Osunsanmi (sack leader): 7 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss. Isaiah Jones: a team-high 51 tackles. Amare Ferrell: team-high 2 INT, with an interception against Ohio State.
The Conference Picture
Indiana is 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, and 2-0 on the road. The Hoosiers dropped from No. 5 to No. 6 in the AP poll after losing 19-15 to Ohio State, which ended a 22-game winning streak and Cignetti's 19-game unbeaten run at home. In Cignetti's words: "We can accomplish anything we want, all of our goals, except going undefeated."
This Week: No. 6 Indiana (6-1) at Michigan (4-2)
Saturday, Oct. 24 · Noon ET · Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor · FOX. The game is sold out, and it's Michigan's Block Cancer Game and Parents Weekend.
Last week: Indiana lost 19-15 to Ohio State. On the last play, Marsh caught a fourth-and-4 pass but couldn't get his left foot down inbounds. The defense held the Buckeyes to 313 yards, only 78 of them on the ground. Michigan beat Penn State 21-18 after true freshman Tommy Carr replaced Bryce Underwood at halftime.
Our offense vs. their defense: this is a real test. Michigan allows 256.5 yards a game, 3rd in FBS, and 89.7 rushing yards a game, 13th. Indiana has also been held under 75 rushing yards in each of its last two games.
Their offense vs. our defense: Michigan averages 22.7 points a game (105th) and 165.7 passing yards (125th). The Wolverines have lost 11 turnovers and are minus-3 in turnover margin, while Indiana is plus-3.
Series: Michigan leads 62-11. Indiana won the last meeting, 20-15 in Bloomington in 2024, and the teams did not play in 2025.
Availability: Hoover's shoulder (above). I found no other official report for this game as of Oct. 18.
What decides it: (1) How healthy Hoover is and how well he throws. (2) Whether Indiana's run game can do anything against Michigan's front. (3) Who plays quarterback for Michigan, which Kyle Whittingham may not announce before kickoff.
And yes, Gus Hartwell, Michigan's very charming insider, I'm holding the Miss Congeniality sash for you. With love.
Local Flavor (unsponsored, not an ad)
Watching from Bloomington? Mother Bear's Pizza on East 3rd Street is a home-game tradition in our house.
My call: Indiana Hoosiers 27, Michigan Wolverines 17.