Year 2 of the Cignetti era unofficially began on Thursday, as Indiana held their 2025 Spring Game. The culmination of spring practice, the game consisted of a pair of 15-minute quarters as the offense (wearing Crimson) squared off against the defense (wearing Cream). While not a full 60 minutes of football, both sides came out hungry for a victory and bragging rights headed into the summer.
First Quarter:
There were no surprises as Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza took the field with the first-team offense. After an early sack by LB Isaiah Jones, the offense responded with a 75-yard TD drive that featured a pair of nice runs from Kaelon Black, a great catch from TE Holden Staes to convert on fourth down, and a 10-yard bubble screen TD for E.J. Williams. The next drive saw Fernando’s brother, Alberto Mendoza, under center for the Hoosiers. The younger Mendoza’s first drive was cut short thanks to a great pass breakup by freshman DB Byron Baldwin, which led to 3 points for the defense.
Disaster struck for the first-team offense on their second drive as Fernando Mendoza’s pass was tipped at the line and intercepted by LB Rolijah Hardy, who returned it 40+ yards for a pick-six. This gave the defense their first lead of the night at 10-7. Wasting no time, the 2nd team offense drove down the field, and Nico Radicic hit a 37-yard field goal to tie the game 10-10.
Second Quarter:
As the second quarter started, the offense found itself going in the wrong direction. On 3rd and 21, Isaiah Jones completely flattened RB Roman Hemby on a bull rush to force an errant throw and incompletion. This gave the defense a 13-10 lead.
On the next drive, RB Khobie Martin was in the midst of a nice run when he had the ball punched out, leading to a defensive recovery by Seaonta Stewart. This turnover allowed the defense to grow their lead to 17-10. Following this turnover, the first team took over and marched down the field, thanks in part to a strong drive from Lee Beebe Jr., who saw his first first-team reps of the game and finished the drive with a touchdown to tie the game.
With this, the coaches put in the younger guys, which caused the offense to stagnate a little bit towards the middle of the 2nd quarter. A pair of defensive stops caused the Defense to regain the lead, 23-17.
Desperately in need of an offensive spark, the first team took the field and immediately changed the game. Kaelon Black burst through a hole and broke off a monster 40-yard run to set the offense up in the red zone. Fernando Mendoza was able to quickly capitalize on this, throwing a dart to Omar Cooper Jr. for a touchdown to retake the lead, 24-23.
This spark gave the offense the confidence they needed to finish the Spring Game on a high note, as freshman WR Lebron Bond caught a touchdown pass to ensure the offense won the game, 31-23.
Hoosier Huddle will have additional coverage of the 2025 Spring Game, but for now, let’s review some of the instant takeaways from Thursday night’s scrimmage.
Instant Reactions
- The LB room is stacked. On a night where Aiden Fisher did not play, Isaiah Jones lived in the backfield with a sack and some QB hurries, while Rolijah Hardy had a huge pick-six.
- Kaelon Black and Lee Beebe both looked phenomenal tonight, breaking off huge runs and providing a spark on offense.
- With the injury to Tyler Morris, there is a vacancy at wide receiver that could be filled by Charlie Becker or Lebron Bond. Becker started tonight, while Bond showed off his quickness several times throughout the game.
- The freshman DBs, specifically Byron Baldwin, Seaonta Stewart, and Jaylen Bell, made some big plays, including a fumble recovery and excellent pass breakup.
