Riley Nowakowski

#37 · TE · Sr. · Indiana6′2″ · 243 lb · Milwaukee, WI

Riley Nowakowski: TE · Indiana · #37.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Dylan WadeUCF · 2026 · 85% season match
Jeremiah Beck Jr.Southern Miss · 2026 · 84% season match
Tyrick JamesTulane · 2021 · 82% season match
Tyler NevilleVirginia · 2024 · 76% season match
Marshon FordLouisville · 2022 · 70% season match

Riley Nowakowski

TE · Indiana · Sr · #37

Shows up in the passing game from any alignment. Played for three head coaches at two programs in four seasons: Paul Chryst, Luke Fickell and Curt Cignetti. The first career honor came in 2025: All-Big Ten. On tape: 65 receiving yards and 4 receptions against Wisconsin, Week 12, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

Indiana in the news

Josh Hoover benched for OT winNov 1
Indiana ends 56-year winless streak at MichiganThe Daily Hoosier Oct 28
Becker apologized to DayThe Herald-Times Oct 21
Indiana's historic win streak endsUSA Today Oct 17

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Indiana	32	387	12.1	2	43
2024	Wisconsin	11	74	6.7	0	15
2023	Wisconsin	7	57	8.1	1	23
2020	Wisconsin	--	--	--	--	--
Career		50	518	10.4	3	43

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 14 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 27-14vs Old Dominion	2	15	7.5	0	9
Wk 2	W 56-9vs Kennesaw State	1	14	14.0	0	14
Wk 4	W 63-10vs No. 9 Illinois	1	43	43.0	1	43
Wk 5	W 20-15@ Iowa	1	4	4.0	0	4
Wk 7	W 30-20@ No. 3 Oregon	3	11	3.7	0	6
Wk 8	W 38-13vs Michigan State	3	54	18.0	0	39
Wk 9	W 56-6vs UCLA	3	17	5.7	0	6
Wk 10	W 55-10@ Maryland	2	22	11.0	0	19
Wk 11	W 27-24@ Penn State	3	51	17.0	0	29
Wk 12	W 31-7vs Wisconsin	4	65	16.3	1	37	Season-high 65 yds
Wk 15	W 13-10vs No. 1 Ohio State	2	20	10.0	0	11
Bowl	W 38-3vs No. 11 Alabama	3	36	12.0	0	31
Bowl	W 56-22vs No. 5 Oregon	2	18	9.0	0	13
Bowl	W 27-21vs No. 10 Miami	2	17	8.5	0	9
Total		32	387	12.1	2	43

Signature game

Week 4 · 2025

W 63-10

vs Illinois

1 rec · 43 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 53-point win at home against Illinois.

With F. Mendoza — 267 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 93.6 · Q. Warren — 52 yards per punt · 2 punts · 1 inside the 20

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 8 · Michigan State · 2nd and 17 · Q2 · EPA +4.02Fernando Mendoza pass complete to Riley Nowakowski for 39 yds to the MSU 24 for a
Week 4 · Illinois · 1st and 15 · Q2 · EPA +3.94Fernando Mendoza pass complete to Riley Nowakowski for 43 yds for a TD (Nico Radicic KICK)
Week 1 · Alabama · 3rd and 8 · Q3 · EPA +3.71Mendoza to Nowakowski: a 31-yard pass.
Week 10 · Maryland · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA −2.77Mendoza to Nowakowski: an 11-yard pass.
Week 12 · Wisconsin · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.63Mendoza to Nowakowski: a 21-yard touchdown pass.
Week 11 · Penn State · 2nd and 10 · Q4 · EPA +2.57Mendoza to Nowakowski: a 29-yard pass.

4 more plays

Week 2 · Kennesaw State · 3rd and 1 · Q1 · EPA +2.45Riley Nowakowski run for 1 yd for a TD (Nico Radicic KICK)
Week 1 · Miami · 3rd and 1 · Q2 · EPA +2.45R.Nowakowski rush middle for 1 yard gain to the Miami00 TOUCHDOWN
Week 12 · Wisconsin · 2nd and 5 · Q2 · EPA +2.31Mendoza to Nowakowski: a 37-yard pass.
Week 15 · Ohio State · 4th and 2 · Q2 · EPA +2.18Mendoza to Nowakowski: a 9-yard pass.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

17%6 of his 36 targets came on third down · TE median is 22%

Teams and coaches

2020Wisconsin4-3HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2023Wisconsin7-6HC: Luke Fickell · Balanced

2024Wisconsin5-7HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2025Indiana16-0HC: Curt Cignetti · Run-heavy

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 61 (#41 of 156). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2025 season

61Quality starter #41 of 156 · 2025?

Ascending12 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: catch rate (97th percentile). Strength: rush tds (92nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#25 / 798 · 97th pct

88.9%

Explosive rate#205 / 798 · 74th pct

13.9%

EPA / target#244 / 798 · 69th pct

0.54

TD rate#357 / 798 · 55th pct

2.8%

Yards / catch#370 / 798 · 54th pct

11.8

Box-score rates (7)

Rush TDs#2 / 33 · 92nd pct

Rec yards#40 / 175 · 77th pct

387

Receptions#42 / 175 · 75th pct

Yards / catch#49 / 175 · 71st pct

12.1

Long catch#53 / 175 · 69th pct

Rec TDs#76 / 175 · 43rd pct

Rush yards#18 / 33 · 42nd pct

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2025. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 14 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.3	34.7	17.4	0.3
Road4g	2.2	22.0	8.9	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-78g	1.9	19.8	12.7	0.1
Weeks 8+6g	2.8	38.2	13.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Curt Cignetti

Pass share

38.7%

404 pass / 641 run

Plays / game

65.3

16 games

Team sack rate

5.3%

380 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

61 · #41 of 156 TEs · 2025

Unranked recruit. Now #41 at the position.

Riley Nowakowski

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Indiana in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Situational

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

All-Conference

Six seasons, two schools, drafted

Moves

2025 14 games

2026