CBS Sports’ Brad Nessler on Indiana football’s transformation, Josh Hoover and ‘dang good’ defense
BLOOMINGTON — CBS Sports executive vice president of programming Dan Weinberg does much of the heavy lifting in putting together the network’s slate of college football games for its traditional 3:30 p.m. timeslot.
There’s a preseason draft among the Big Ten’s various television partners, with networks jockeying for their preferred matchups.
CBS’ long-time play-by-play voice Brad Nessler stays out of the process, but getting a chance to cover the defending champs on their home turf would have been high up on his wish list. He will be in the booth this weekend alongside Charles Davis for Indiana football’s game against Minnesota.
Davis stepped in as the network’s lead college football analyst following the retirement of Gary Danielson at the end of last season.
“The atmosphere is going to be awesome,” Nessler told The Herald-Times on Wednesday. “I can’t wait.”
It will be a far cry from what Nessler experienced when he called IU’s season opener in 2023, and the program relied on Ohio State fans to fill up Memorial Stadium.
As Indiana coach Curt Cignetti’s transformation started to take hold in 2024, Nessler returned to Bloomington to broadcast a then-record-setting win over Michigan, but CBS didn’t draw an IU home game in 2025.
“The town will be bonkers,” Nessler said.
The No. 4 Hoosiers (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten) are firmly in the playoff hunt and one of the country’s most intriguing teams.
“Obviously, being defending champs makes them a huge story and a huge target on their back,” Nessler said. “And then I think there’s a faction of people that are waiting to see if the bubble’s going to burst, you know?”
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One of the biggest storylines going into Saturday’s game will be Josh Hoover’s health.
Hoover is playing through an injury he suffered against Ohio State to his throwing arm. Cignetti sounded optimistic about his status — Hoover is listed on the injury report as probable — but Nessler joked that CBS calling the game might be a bad omen for Indiana’s starter.
“You don’t want to see my crew coming because we’ve had every backup quarterback you could possibly find over the course of this season,” Nessler said with a laugh. “I mean, you just go down the list.”
Last week, Nessler and Davis were in the booth for a battle of backup quarterbacks between UCLA and Michigan State. It was the fourth straight game they called featuring at least one backup quarterback taking on a prominent role.
They have an Ohio State and Oregon matchup waiting on deck with both starters already ruled out.
“We had Iowa losing Hank Brown (against Ohio State), UCLA losing Nico (Iamaleava) and Oregon starting Dylan Raiola and even going to the third kid, Brock Thomas,” Nessler said. “And Michigan made a change after a really bad first half against Penn State. I can talk about injured and backup quarterbacks all you want. I think I’m the king of all that stuff right now.”
While Nessler will be ready for anything on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, the CBS crew came into the season eager to see a veteran like Hoover operating Cignetti’s system in person.
“You want people at their best because the rapport he has with Becker and Marsh is just off the charts,” Nessler said.
College football fans should ‘pay attention’ to Indiana football’s defense
Nessler has seen some pretty good performances from IU’s defense during Cignetti’s tenure. He watched the Hoosiers harass former Michigan quarterback Davis Warren, rattle Dante Moore in Eugene and hold the Terps to a lone touchdown in College Park.
He’s expecting to see another one on Saturday.
“They’ve been in basically a month’s worth of rock flights,” Nessler said. “And the reason they’re winning is because their defense is so dang good. And I love watching great defenses, and this is a great defense”
Heading into the Minnesota game, Indiana ranks eighth in the FBS in total defense (264.8 yards allowed per game), second in scoring defense (12.0 points allowed) and fourth in run defense (73.1 yards allowed). The Hoosiers also have the fourth-most sacks (28) and tackles for loss (65) in the country.
The win over Michigan was the third time this season IU’s defense didn’t allow a touchdown.
“Michigan’s defense was good, Ohio State’s was good, I think will be the best ball run defense that I’ve seen,” Nessler said. “People that pay attention to Indiana football know that, but I think across the country, most people still think of Indiana and offense.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: CBS Sports’ Brad Nessler on Indiana football’s transformation, Josh Hoover and ‘dang good’ defense
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