Though Northwestern and Indiana have been in the same conference since 1900, they are practically strangers these days.
When the Wildcats (2-0) visit the fifth-ranked Hoosiers (3-0) in the teams’ Big Ten opener Friday night in Bloomington, Ind., it will mark just the fourth meeting in the past 14 seasons.
Yet Northwestern coach David Braun, who agreed last week to a contract extension through 2031, has been on the business end of the Curt Cignetti threshing machine.
Two years ago, during Cignetti’s first season with the Hoosiers and Braun’s second with the Wildcats, Indiana marched into Evanston, Ill., and piled up 529 total yards to claim a 41-24 victory that pushed its record to 6-0.
“There’s just a certain level of confidence that they move with,” Braun said. “Again, that team in 2024 may have surprised some people. But when you turned on the tape and evaluated objectively, like, ‘Holy smokes, these guys are really good.’
“What’s been very evident year in and year out offensively and, again, I don’t want to diminish the talent in the backfield or in the wide receiver rooms because they’ve certainly had that throughout, but it starts up front with the offensive line play and really sound decision-making from the quarterback position.”
Josh Hoover, the third transfer in as many years to serve as the Hoosiers’ starting quarterback, ranks second nationally in passing efficiency with a 244.1 rating. He has connected on 37 of 51 passes for 649 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in roughly eight quarters of action as Indiana routed North Texas, Howard and Western Kentucky.
And, yet, Hoover won’t be the hottest passer on the field Friday.
Northwestern fourth-year quarterback Aidan Chiles, who came in from Michigan State in the offseason, is the Big Ten’s reigning Offensive Player of the Week after enjoying a monstrous effort during the Wildcats’ 41-7 win over Colorado on Saturday.
Chiles completed 17 of 22 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns — and in his spare time rushed for two scores to become the league’s first player since Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett in 2017 to pull off the 3-2 combo. All three of Chiles’ scoring strikes went to running back Joseph Himon II.
“The quarterback has really developed,” Cignetti said of Chiles. “They’ve done a great job with him as a passer and designed a really nice offense around him.”
When Cignetti says “they’ve,” he means new Northwestern offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, who earned a national championship ring one year before Cignetti during his season as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
Chiles shared after the Colorado blowout on Saturday that Kelly has been demanding throughout their months together in Evanston. Braun has noticed that — and how Chiles has embraced those demands.
“I think as a player, that is a form of a coach showing they care about you,” Braun said. “And instead of being resistant, you lean into that? I’ve seen Aidan lean into that with Coach Kelly. … I’ve been really impressed with Aidan’s willingness to lean into that. Because as a veteran quarterback that’s played a lot of college football, it would be easy for him to say, ‘Nah.’ But he knows it’s for his best and the team’s best.”
Chiles ought to have a good idea of what Indiana’s defense is all about. As Michigan State’s quarterback the past two years, he faced the Hoosiers twice and came out on the losing end of 47-10 and 38-13 scores.
It’s still early, but this Indiana defense might be just as good as the 2025 version. The Hoosiers have not allowed a point since 1:18 remained in the third quarter of the Week 1 win over North Texas. That’s a scoreless streak of 131 minutes, 18 seconds.
“We’ve got to stop the run, No. 1,” Cignetti said. “They’re about 66% run-to-pass … so it always starts there. And the quarterback can run, obviously. And when he drops back, he can still run it and you’ve got to contain him.”
