With legal battle won, Louis Moore has been key in Indiana's 6-0 start

Ahead of the 2025 season, Indiana safety Louis Moore didn’t know if he was going to be able to play, but now he’s a key contributor on one of the best defenses in all of college football.
Even after Week 2, Moore wasn’t sure if he would be able to continue the season. After Week 4, there still wasn’t a final decision on his eligibility status. That’s because, in Moore’s legal case against the NCAA, the decision kept getting pushed down the road.
First, a temporary restraining order given by the Texas judge allowed Moore to play in Weeks 1 and 2, while a temporary legal agreement made between Moore’s attorney, Brian Lauten, and the NCAA’s attorney, Taylor Askew, pushed a final decision back to after Week 4.
This gave Moore the first four weeks to play, but he still didn’t know if he would be able to finish his final season of college football. Even with the weight of uncertainty, Moore played well during the first few weeks of the season.
MORE ON MOORE: Judge rules Indiana safety Louis Moore eligible for rest of 2025 season
He intercepted a pass in Indiana’s first two games while totaling 14 tackles between Weeks 1 and 2. He was positively impacting Indiana’s defense despite his pending legal decision, but Curt Cignetti still wanted more out of his sixth-year safety.
“He’s one of those guys that’s got to get better,” Cignetti said. “I mean, he’s got talent. He’s played a lot of football. He’s got to practice better. He’s got to prepare better. He’s got to play with more urgency, because those things all show up on tape.”
Even with his early success, Cignetti knew Moore could take his game to the next level. And after his legal battle was resolved, he certainly made his presence known on the Indiana defense.
Sept. 24 was when the injunction from Judge Dale Tillery came in, allowing Moore to remain eligible for the rest of the 2025 season. It’s safe to say he’s taken full advantage. In the two games since returning, Moore has recorded an interception in each one.
Against Oregon, he made what could be considered the biggest defensive play of the game. Following a Fernando Mendoza-to-Elijah Sarratt touchdown to take a 27-20 lead with 6:23 to go, Moore secured an INT to give the Hoosiers the ball back just two plays later.
This gave Indiana a chance to extend its lead to two scores, essentially sealing arguably the biggest win in program history. And for Moore, it came less than three weeks after he was still unsure if he would be able to take the field with the Hoosiers for most of the season.
You might think that receiving eligibility reenergized Moore, and that may have played a small role in how he responded after Cignetti challenged him to improve his game. But if you ask the Hoosiers, Moore is just a great player day in and day out.
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“He’d been playing free even before he got that situation resolved. Like I said, he’s an experienced guy. I feel like with his experience he sees things well — that’s why he can find the ball,” cornerback D’Angelo Ponds said following Tuesday’s practice.
Ponds also mentioned that with Moore’s years of football under his belt, he’s developed into an important leader in the secondary.
“Just formation recognition and stuff like that. He’s definitely taught me some things,” Ponds added.
As a fellow member of the secondary, Ponds has been able to experience firsthand how Moore has evolved this season — and he certainly has. Since registering a poor 55.6 PFF coverage grade in Week 2, Moore has had three separate games with a coverage rating of 80 or higher, including an 80.3 last week at Oregon.
Moore has the most tackles on Indiana’s roster, with 38 in the Hoosiers’ first six games, and he’s tied for third in the country with four interceptions on the season. He’s been a special player, and all that comes on the heels of extreme uncertainty.
READ: Before ‘Google me,’ he did: How Isaiah Jones found his fit in Indiana’s new era
Moore didn’t know if he’d be able to compete in 2025, then he didn’t know if he would be able to compete beyond Week 2, and then he didn’t know if he would be able to compete beyond Week 4.
Through all that uncertainty, he never wavered. Moore has been one of the key players on Indiana’s defense, and his game-defining interception against Oregon was exactly the moment he had been waiting for after a lengthy and stressful legal battle.
Indiana is 6-0. It’s ranked No. 3 for the first time in its history, and Moore has been an integral part of that. Moore’s eligibility being reinstated is a heartwarming story, but more importantly, it’s kept one of the most impactful players on the field for the Hoosiers as they hope to bring a national championship to Bloomington.
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