Roman Hemby arrived at Maryland in 2021, right after Tom Allen led IU through two of their best seasons in program history — to that point.
The Indiana Hemby saw his first three seasons left much to be desired. The Hoosiers went 9-27 over that span. The Terps beat IU in each of Hemby’s first three seasons playing for Maryland, including a dominant 44-17 win at College Park in 2023.
Of course you know what happened next. Allen was fired, Curt Cignetti was hired, and a switch was flipped.
Indiana snapped their three-game losing streak to the Terps in 2024 in convincing fashion, 42-28. For that game, Hemby’s second trip to Bloomington, he saw a program that barely resembled the Indiana from the three previous years.
On his third trip to Bloomington, he committed to play for Cignetti and the Hoosiers.
“I was in the (transfer) portal for maybe a week and a half or two weeks. Pretty much had my head down and I just wanted to work and see what came to me,” Hemby said. “I had a few opportunities, but when I came on my visit here (to IU), I really fell in love with the university. So, there was nothing really else that needed to be said, nothing else that needed to be done. it was pretty much a done deal.”
Indiana’s game against Maryland in 2024 came in week five. The Hoosiers were 4-0 and Cignetti was hell bent on getting the fans to buy in. He famously sent an e-mail to the student body ahead of the game, imploring them to “study later” and stay for the entire game.
Although the weather didn’t cooperate that afternoon, the fans did. And Hemby and the Terps noticed.
“The thing that stood out to me the most as far as the atmosphere as a whole was the fact that nobody left and it was raining,” Hemby said. “It was an ugly type of game, the rain was cold, it was coming down sideways and it was a little chilly. But as the game went on, the fans were still engaged, it was a really good atmosphere, and it was something that I feel gave IU the edge in the game. We weren’t able to create any momentum, because when we had a little slither of hope it got taken away.”
While Hemby was noticing the stark change at Indiana, his performance last September caught the attention of the Hoosiers’ staff.
He led the Terps in 2024 in carries (134), rushing yards (607) and touchdown runs (six). He also caught 40 passes for 273 yards and one score.
With 165 all-purpose yards, he was the lone bright spot for Maryland in their loss to IU.
“Kind of fits the bill what we look for because our backs do catch a number of passes also,” Cignetti said.
“Yeah, I was impressed with his game against us here in the fall and obviously been watching tape of him for a while. He’s got a lot of experience. Got a lot of career total yards, whether it’s rushing or receiving. And we lost our top two guys. So he was a perfect fit for what we were looking for.”
Hemby arrives at IU in a competition for snaps primarily with veteran returner Kaelon Black and UAB transfer Lee Beebe, Jr.
Cignetti has a long track record of playing multiple backs throughout games, so all three should see plenty of action.
For his part, Hemby has arrived enthusiastic about the offense IU runs and the culture he saw on film and on the field a year ago.
“I really love the offense here (at IU),” Hemby said. “I feel like it is a similar system here: a pro style system. A spread offense system where a lot of people can touch the ball, and a lot of people can make plays.
“I think the biggest thing that is different here, a lot of the players are really gritty. They do things the right way here … they hit the ground running every day and that is something that inspired me. I have been really trying to model my game after that since being here.”
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