The ‘Google Me’ man, Curt Cignetti, saw fortune smile when the Playoff rankings came out for the Indiana Hoosiers. But their injury luck tanked at the worst time. As Indiana hunts the Big Ten crown and gets ready to lock horns with the Purdue Boilermakers on Friday, November 28, the latest injury report delivered some tough-to-swallow updates.

Right before the game started, 247Sports’ Jared Kelly dropped the latest update. Cignetti’s wide receiver EJ Williams Jr. and kickoff specialist Brendan Franke are out.

Cignetti and co. sealed a 56-6 blowout victory against the UCLA Bruins. However, their celebratory spirit was dampened by an injury that came as a surprise. Their kickoff star suffered a lower-body injury on the opening kick against UCLA.

The Hoosiers will be without wideout E.J. Williams Jr. on Friday; the Big Ten availability report stamped him “out.” What’s the shocker? Cignetti never hinted all week that Williams was even in danger of missing the matchup. This is not how the wider receiver had envisioned 2025 to turn out.

Ahead of Indiana’s December 20, 2024, College Football Playoff clash with Notre Dame, the Hoosiers got a comeback story of their own. Williams Jr., who originally left the team on October 22 to explore a transfer, ended up returning after posting on X about undergoing surgery and redshirting for next year.

Cignetti summed it up perfectly: “We wanted him back. He wanted to come back, so that was another win for us.”

Williams Jr. has been cooking this year with 33 grabs for 404 yards and a season-best 109-yard show against UCLA. Franke, on the other hand, has only seen the field twice, with just one field goal to show for it against the Oregon Ducks. 

As Cignetti witnessed two heartbreaks, there is some good news, too. On Monday, November 24, he made it official that Elijah Sarratt and Mikail Kamara are suiting up as starters for Friday’s Old Oaken Bucket clash. 

Sarratt’s early lower-body injury in the 55-10 Maryland rout hit pause on his season and broke his 46-game catch run. Kamara’s shoulder knock at Wisconsin benched him right after the first drive.

As for Drew Evans? His situation was on silent mode- three games out, and Cignetti said he would know more once the trainers drop the details later this week. Looks like the head coach and the team finally got clarity. 

As Kelly reported, Evans “appear good to go.” 

All of this is a major energy boost for the head coach as he gears up for the next big test.

Curt Cignetti is blocking the outside noise

Indiana dropped a 66-0 hammer on Purdue last season, the biggest beatdown in 126 meetings. But Cignetti isn’t expecting anything that easy this time. Like he does every Monday, he hyped up the opponent, giving the Boilermakers’ 2-9 season a fresher, more flattery.

If Indiana pulls this off, they’re looking at the first spotless regular season in program history- zero Ls, zero ties, plus a ticket to the Big Ten Championship on December 6. But Cignetti isn’t daydreaming about any of that. He’s locked in on one thing only: bringing the Old Oaken Bucket back to Bloomington.

“We have to go up there prepared, and we got to play well,” Cignetti said. “We’re going on the road to play a Big Ten football team, an in-state rival. That’s all we’re thinking about.”

It’s pretty clear Cignetti’s got the blinders on and isn’t letting the outside chatter seep in. Just a few days ago, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum flat-out said he’s not buying the hype about Indiana soaking up all this spotlight.

“I’m thrilled that Indiana was able to come from behind against a flatline, comatose team that fired its coach four weeks ago,” said Finebaum. “But that doesn’t make me feel any better about Indiana. I’d like to see them play Georgia’s schedule or Alabama’s schedule, go through that gauntlet, they couldn’t do it.”

Cignetti’s bunch got the week off and still held strong at No. 2 when Tuesday’s CFP rankings dropped on ESPN. That’s four-for-four with the committee keeping Indiana locked into the same spot.

Indiana and Purdue are gearing up for their 127th clash, with the Hoosiers holding a 43-77-6 record in the series. Furthermore, it just so happens to be the 100th Old Oaken Bucket showdown. Time to see whether or how Curt Cignetti’s boys etch their name in the history book.