ODU #58 Stephon Dubose-Bourne on the line with Indiana #6 Mikail Kamara. Memorial Stadium, IN, August 30th, 2025. Photo Credit: Indiana athletics
In advance of Saturday’s football game vs Indiana, Sentinel sports writer Lance Warren spoke one-on-one with Indiana Daily Student Sports Editor, Nathan Shriberg to preview the matchup.
Lance Warren: You guys beat Old Dominion last week 27-14. What were the feelings around the team after that game?
Nathan Shriberg: I think the story of that game isn’t really told by the final score. Going by some of the stats, it starts to reveal that it was much more of a dominant win than it might have felt like. I know the feeling right after is a little bit nervous, a little shaky, it’s only a 13-point win and you’re expected to come out and blow everyone out in the non-conference, but it’s really more reflected in the stats than the final score how the actual game went. I think the most impressive thing about the game that goes under the radar is how Old Dominion couldn’t move the ball through the air at all. Colton Joseph threw 11 for 22, less than 100 yards, three interceptions and no touchdowns. If you take away the 75 and 78-yard rushing plays they couldn’t really do much and Indiana left a lot of points on the board. There were a lot of execution issues and things to be desired that need to be done better, but the final score does not tell the true story of that game.
LW: Indiana has a new QB in Fernando Mendoza. What have been the early thoughts on him
NS: Coming into the season everyone has been really excited about him. I mean, he was rated very highly in the transfer portal, and I think he was an even higher rated transfer prospect than Kurtis Rourke was last year coming out of Ohio versus coming out of California for Mendoza. The expectations are sky high, I mean, I don’t know if you saw a week or two ago, but CBS Sports had him number one in their projected NFL draft for next year which was kind of out of nowhere, but gives you an idea of the expectations for this guy. But the bottom line is, I need to see more from him. He looked shaky at times during the Old Dominion game. He’s the guy I most want to see better execution from. He was missing receivers, and he looked at times to be suffering from, ‘I have too much time, what do I do with it?’ and trying to make decisions too fast. I think he’s not quite used to having more time because he was running for his life at Cal last year as opposed to a real good offensive line he has now at Indiana. I think he’s got to adjust to a new style of play where he has time to make decisions and relax with the ball so that he can get our receivers the chances they deserve, especially Elijah Sarratt who I felt was underutilized in week one.
LW: Broadly, what can we expect to see from Indiana on both sides of the ball?
NS: Well, at least in Week 1, on offense they utilized the three headed monster at running back more than I think anyone expected. Curt Cignetti decided to go to the run game a lot more than was anticipated, and Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black both looked very good. Lee Beebee Jr. had a fumble early and was a little shaky, but I think we will still see a good amount of him. I expect a run heavy scheme on offense at least until Mendoza settles in. On defense, I think what we should expect is to lean heavily on the secondary, which is very talented. They’ve got potential All-American D’Angelo Ponds who had an interception last week. You’ve got a little bit of a depth worry with an injury to Bryson Bonds and then safety Louis Moore is suing for his eligibility this season, so we’ll see what happens there, but the defense has a lot of talent. Linebacker Aiden Fisher and defensive lineman Mikail Kamara are guys I hope to see more from this week, and the pass rush needs to step up as well. That was one note I had from week one was just to see more from that unit.
LW: Indiana was a College Football Playoff team last year. Does this team have that same level of expectations?
NS: Well, I mean, last year coming into the season those were not the expectations. Everyone was hoping it would be better and that was about it. There’s always been a history and culture of, well, ‘how good could it really be, its Indiana football,’ and now just a year later that’s been completely flipped. Now we’re expected to just dominate the non-conference and destroy all the lesser Big Ten teams. And now you’re expecting to be on the level of, at the very least, the Illinois level and you’re hoping to be on the level of Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State this year so the expectations are very different. I don’t know if people are expecting another playoff run, but at the very least the goal is 10 wins, and I think that’s a super reasonable expectation with the schedule Indiana has.
LW: And now just to talk about this week a little bit, you mentioned dominating the non-conference so what could be concerning about a matchup with Kennesaw State?
NS: Well, I think it would be foolish to not take into account the performance from Kennesaw State last week. I was surprised to see them hang in there with an ACC team and thought that was impressive and then I looked at the game and saw the game should have gone to overtime, so I think you can’t look past any opponent. Just like Old Dominion, Kennesaw poses their own challenges, and you got a former Hoosier, Dexter Williams II, coming back to town. I know the line is Indiana by a lot, but you can’t take that for granted. You got to show up on game day and lock in and be ready to compete. I don’t think there’s too much to worry about with Kennesaw State, but Indiana has to play a cleaner game than last week and correct some of those mistakes they made, and I think there shouldn’t be any issue this week.
LW: With all that said, last thing I have to ask is do you have a score prediction/general expectations for this week?
NS: One of the expectations I have for this week is to see Elijah Sarratt be more involved. He didn’t have a target in the first half last week and that’s unacceptable with him being an All-American level wide receiver. So, I think that’s something Curt Cignetti will focus on this week just involving Sarratt more in the offense. As far as a score prediction goes, how about 52-7 Hoosiers.
