BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WDRB) — Indiana is a program with as much romance in its football past as a stone quarry.
I can’t take credit for that stinging line. The applause must go to Dan Jenkins, one of the greatest writers to ever cover the sport.
Jenkins wrote that line about Indiana University football for Sports Illustrated magazine.
He wrote it in 1967 — the last year the Hoosiers won the Big Ten title and the last time IU won its first five games.
Jenkins nailed it then. But after 57 years, it needs to be sent to rewrite.
Finally.
"Fifty-seven years?" IU coach Curt Cignetti asked after the game. "This isn't the end for us ... We've got everything moving in the right direction here."
After rolling to victories over modest competition in its first four games while outscoring its opponents by 41 points per game with a plus-7 advantage in turnovers, the Hoosiers flirted with their generational pedigree of pain Saturday against Maryland. They lost four turnovers -- without creating any.
But the flirtation never lapsed into a flatline. Scoring 21 straight points in the second half, the Hoosiers outplayed the Terrapins in the fourth quarter of a 42-28 victory to the rousing approval of 48,323 soggy fans.
Here’s a stat you won’t see in the NCAA record book:
For the first time in 20,797 days (Oct. 21, 1967) Indiana is 5-0. Heck, they’re also 2-0 in the Big Ten with a road victory against UCLA.
Tell Cignetti, IU’s first-year coach, that I Googled that statistic. He'll get the joke without reminding you he's never had a losing season as a head coach -- and IU is his fourth coaching stop, first since leaving James Madison.
The Hoosiers will carry that record to Evanston, Illinois next Saturday as they try to secure bowl eligibility against Northwestern. This has not been a dazzling Northwestern team. They're 2-2, with wins over Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Illinois as well as losses to Duke and Washington.
Not that bowl eligibility is listed very prominently on the list of things the Hoosiers intend to accomplish this season.
Ranked No. 27 in the Associated Press poll last week, the Hoosiers are positioned to return to the Top 25 for the first time since 2021. Considering this program went 9-27 the previous three seasons under Tom Allen, I wondered if the players believe they're making people pay attention to IU football.
"For sure," IU linebacker Aiden Fisher said. "But you know when you listen to coach Cig talk about it, it's rat poison. So we really only care about the opinions of the people in this building and we're keeping those opinions to ourselves."
Make a note of this, too: Cignetti’s team displayed the grit and persistence to win a game that most of the Indiana teams over the last 57 seasons would have lost.
They turned the ball over four times — two interceptions and two fumbles. Maryland transformed those turnovers into zero points.
"The defense rose to the occasion after every one of those turnovers," Cignetti said. "There were a lot of good responses in that game and we responded more than they did."
"We're a complimentary team," Fisher said. "If the offense isn't firing, we have to pick up our end of the bargain."
They committed a pass interference penalty when the Terps faced a 2-and-31 situation. They came up on the wrong side of an official’s review of a Maryland pass along the sidelines. The defense was gashed for a 75-yard touchdown run.
"When something bad happens, you've got to play the next play," Cignetti said. "If you've got 11 guys playing that way, you've got a chance."
The Hoosiers started the game like a team distracted by its press clippings. After not committing any turnovers in its first four games, Indiana rushed to get its average up to national standards in the first 30 minutes.
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke overthrew a receiver by 10 yards for his first interception in 79 passing attempts late in the first quarter. Rourke followed that by throwing his next pass behind a receiver for another pick.
Toss in a fumble by halfback Kaelon Black in Maryland territory midway through the second quarter and the Hoosiers were fortunate that they slipped away to a 14-7 halftime lead.
"It was a great test for us," Fisher said. "A new team. A lot of new faces. You need to face adversity at some point in your season so I thought doing that today was awesome."
Rourke regained his precise touch on the Hoosiers first drive of the second half, finding Omar Cooper on back-to-back passes. Each was good for 27 yards but the second one is the one you’ll see on social media because Cooper reached away from Maryland cornerback Chantz Harley and snagged Rourke’s pass over his left shoulder for a touchdown.
"I think it definitely has been (a different Indiana)," Cooper said. "We've been looking real good. The fact that we were able to come out on top even though we had four turnovers shows that when we clean up some mistakes and figure out what we need to change, it would have been way worse than what it was."
So it went. Rourke finished with three touchdowns passes. Indiana’s rotating group of running backs rumbled to three other scores. The Hoosiers never trailed, not for a second against the program that defeated IU the last three times the schools played.
IU finished with 501 yards on offense. Rourke sprayed 359 passing yards to 10 receivers. Three different guys scored rushing touchdowns.
"I thought this was a good challenge for us and we outlasted them," Cignetti said. "I think we've got a chance to be a good football team. You've got to prove it every play."
It’s the last Saturday in September and basketball is not the thing everybody is talking about in Bloomington.
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