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BLOOMINGTON — The difficulty level of Indiana football’s schedule ramps up at the end of the season.
The Hoosiers have back-to-back matchups against Michigan, the defending national champions, and Ohio State with an open week in between. They scored 10 points combined on 385 yards of offense against their rivals last season.
Indiana’s new staff would be thrilled to pull off an upset against either perennial contender — new coach Curt Cignetti called out both programs when he got on the mic when he was first introduced at Assembly Hall — but the results of those games won’t define the season.
Let’s take a look at the schedule in greater depth, ranking the opponents from easiest to toughest:
Click here for Part 1: Ranking Indiana football’s 2024 schedule from easiest opponents to toughest
Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke (9) passes during the Indiana football spring game at Memorial Stadaium on Thursday, April 18, 2024.
Week 5 vs. Maryland
Can Maryland coach Mike Locksley win without quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa? Locksley’s record with the quarterback is 23-18 and 8-41 (5-10 at Maryland) without him.
While the Terps search for a replacement, Locksley will lean on a talented defense to lead the team forward. He brings back seven starters from a group that ranked No. 40 in scoring (22.5 points allowed) and No. 31 in total defense (334.1 yards allowed).
Those were the best numbers of Locksley’s tenure.
Maryland has a pretty dynamic front seven coming back even after losing linebacker Jaishawn Barham (Michigan) to the transfer portal. The anchor of the group is middle linebacker Ruben Hyppolite II, who has 34 career starts over four seasons.
The other good news for the Terps is that whoever wins the starting quarterback job will have some really gifted skill players to work with. Tai Felton and Kaden Prather are a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ranking-indiana-football-2024-schedule-084017483.html
Author : The Herald-Times
Publish date : 2024-06-23 08:40:17
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