Bloomington is buzzing, and it’s not even basketball season yet.

Under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana football is off to a blazing start and will look to continue its roll Saturday when hosting Maryland at Memorial Stadium (Noon ET, BTN).

There have been a number of great stories across the college football landscape, but it still feels like the Hoosiers are excelling under the radar a bit. They are 4-0, beating teams by an average margin of 41 points and are on the brink of cracking the Associated Press Top 25 poll, which they haven’t been a part of since 2021. The Hoosiers are also 4-0 for the first time since 2020 and for just the 8th time in program history.

Keep in mind, IU has failed to win 4 games in a season 63 times in its history, including 7 times in the 2000s.

Cignetti’s start is downright remarkable.

And much of the success has to do with an explosive offense. At the center of that offensive onslaught is Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who completed 16-of-20 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown in IU’s 52-14 victory over Charlotte last week. He also added a score on the ground as 5 Hoosiers scored rushing touchdowns (6 total).

It is clear Rourke has been one of the best transfer portal additions from this past offseason. He is completing 75.5% of his throws (third in the Big Ten), passing for 253.3 yards per game (6th) with 8 touchdowns (tied for 2nd) and no interceptions. The numbers could be even bigger if not for being pulled out early against Western Illinois and Charlotte. He also ranks No. 4 nationally with a QBR of 92.4.

“He’s in command. He’s playing with a lot of confidence. He’s seeing the field. He’s making the throws,” Cignetti told reporters. “When the pattern breaks down, he’s running for yards, touchdowns, first downs. The guys have a lot of confidence in him. You can really see it all coming together.”

This week, though, the Hoosiers face a difficult test against a Terrapins squad that has won 3 straight in the series. Cignetti acknowledged as much to the media this week.

“This is going to be the stoutest defensive line we’ve gone against,” he said. “They’re really big inside, and they’ve got good players on the outside too. And, you know, if you go two tight ends, they’ll bring five defensive linemen in. … They’re very aggressive. It’s also going to be the best receiving corps we’ve seen up to this point. Probably the best quarterback we’ve seen up to this point. So it’s the best football team we’ve seen up to this point.”

The quarterback Cignetti is referring to is Billy Edwards Jr., whom Cignetti offered a scholarship to while at James Madison. So he is familiar with his talent level. Edwards is averaging 288.8 passing yards per game (3rd in the Big Ten) while completing 75% of his passes (4th) with 8 touchdowns (tied for 2nd) and 2 interceptions. He also has 2 rushing scores. And he’s played against the Hoosiers, too. In 2022, he took over for an injured Taulia Tagovailoa and scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to seal the win.

So expectations for this old B1G East battle is for a shootout with great play from the quarterback position.

Can IU continue its offensive onslaught and move to 5-0? Let’s take a look at some of the history this team has made up to this point.

Notable ’24 season feats:

1. Cignetti became the first IU head coach to start his tenure 4-0.

2. IU’s 202 points through a 4-game stretch are a program record (previous best was 183 points in 2015); the Hoosiers also became the first B1G team in 2024 to top the 200-point mark.

3. How prolific has the offense been? IU passed 200 points in Game 10 last season.

4. The Hoosiers have won each of their 4 games by at least 20 points, which only happened one other time: 1990.

5. Saturday’s 52-point output against Charlotte marked the 7th time in program history to have 2 50-point performances in a single season. IU accomplished the 50-point feat 3 times in 2013 and 1942.

6. The 6 rushing touchdowns IU had against Charlotte mark just the 3rd time since at least 1996 it has scored 6 or more rushing touchdowns in multiple games in a single season. The Hoosiers also accomplished the feat against Western Illinois this season.

7. Long drives are becoming the norm for Mike Shanahan’s offense; IU has 13 touchdown drives of 70 or more yards through the first 4 games.

8. With a win Saturday, IU can start 5-0 for the first time since 1967, and it would be only the 3rd time in program history. The Hoosiers’ best start ever? It came in 1967, when they raced out to an 8-0 mark en route to the Rose Bowl.

9. IU heads back into conference play with 3 nonconference wins for the first time since 2019, when the Hoosiers finished with 8 wins.

10. The Hoosiers have still not committed a turnover or dropped a pass this season.

Again, remarkable stuff for a program that failed to win 4 games in a season 63 times, including 7 times in the 2000s. The offense is clicking on all cylinders, and things are going so well that all-B1G punter James Evans has only punted 4 times this season.

And let’s not forget about the defense. It held Charlotte to just 256 yards of total offense, making this defense the first IU unit since at least 1996 to allow fewer than 300 yards of total offense in 4 straight games.

Is it too early to say Indiana is now a football school?