BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WDRB) — The Best Story in College Football filed another mountain of evidence to its shrinking gang of skeptics Saturday afternoon.
Skeptics like former Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Mr. Saban looked at Indiana’s 6-0 record and said “the proof would be in the pudding this week,” because the Hoosiers were booked against (5-1) Nebraska, a team with a No. 25 ranking in the coaches’ poll.
Like Fox Sports national analyst Joel Klatt.
Mr. Klatt put the No. 16 Hoosiers on ‘upset alert,’ before he took his seat with Gus Johnson on Fox Sports’ national telecast. Then Klatt watched the Hoosiers march 75, 88, 75 and 74 yards for four first-half touchdowns and a 28-7 halftime lead.
Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr., left, pulls in a pass under the defense of Nebraska defensive back Marques Buford Jr. (3) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
That tsunami of energy translated into a 56-7 win over the Cornhuskers in front of an overflow crowd of 53,082. And the Hoosiers delivered even though starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke did not play in the second half after he tore the finger nail off his right thumb when he hit it against a helmet in the first half.
"It was a dominant win," IU coach Curt Cignetti said. "I think this says a lot about our team. I know there was a national perception that Nebraska had a pretty legit defense on a national scale so that opened their eyes, OK?"
"Everybody thought Nebraska would be the team to give us a challenge," IU halfback TySon Lawton said. "It didn't really happen. We're good."
Tell that to the skeptics from around the Big Ten, who shrugged off Indiana’s 6-0 overall record and 3-0 mark in the league because the Hoosiers' best wins came against UCLA, Maryland and Northwestern.
Any questions?
Just this: The next time you Google "Indiana coach Curt Cignetti," expect to read more than that he wins. You’ll read that he is orchestrating the most remarkable one-season turnaround in college football in 2024.
Indiana is 7-0 for the first time since 1967. The Hoosiers were 2-5 after seven games last season. They were 3-4 two years ago. They were 2-5 in 2021. They finished 9-27 the last three seasons.
A year ago, the fifth loss was an Unhappy Homecoming match with Rutgers when the Scarlet Knights punished the Hoosiers 31-14. Rutgers quarterback Gavin Wimsatt beat IU with his ability to run the ball, the same Gavin Wimsatt who is now Kentucky's backup quarterback.
That's about the time people suggested Indiana needed to buy out former coach Tom Allen, a move athletic director Scott Dolson and president Pamela Whitten made at the reduced price of $15 million after the season.
Enter Cignetti, who won at Indiana (Pa.), Elon and James Madison.
This has been a different level of perfection. Over seven games, 420 minutes of football, Indiana has yet to trail. The Hoosiers have won every game by at least two touchdowns. The Hoosiers put 495 yards on a Top 15 defense Saturday. They scored at least one touchdown in every quarter. IU punted once in 12 possessions -- and that was after they led, 49-7.
"It's a veteran team with the right kind of guys and we have a good staff," Cignetti said.
Nebraska started the game ranked seventh in the nation in rushing defense, allowing 84 yards a game. Nebraska had not allowed a rushing touchdown. Not anymore. IU ran for 215 yards and five rushing touchdowns by four players.
"We've got some real blue-collar guys up front who put in a good day's work," Cignetti said.
Any other questions?
Just this: Do you think that ESPN analyst Pat McAfee will deliver on his pledge to Cignetti and convince ESPN to bring its College GameDay Show to Bloomington next weekend when the Hoosiers play host to Washington, the program that lost the national championship game last season?
Stay tuned.
Think about this: Indiana's next two home games will be against Washington and Michigan, the teams that played for that national title. Odds are the Hoosiers will be favored against both the Huskies and Wolverines.
Every seat in Memorial Stadium was full. Students waved white “Study later!” Towels that Cignetti ordered for their enjoyment. They came.They waved. They stayed -- once a novel idea at Indiana.
Scalpers rode bicycles through tailgating areas hours before the kickoff, looking for tickets to resell.
There were more people looking to buy than looking to sell — and that’s something I have not seen in this neighborhood since Trayce Jackson-Davis left town.
A reported 80 recruiting targets were on campus, including two members of the Class of 2029, which means they are currently in the eighth grade.
It wasn’t a perfect game but it was in the neighborhood. The Hoosiers lost Rourke to that thumb injury after halftime. (His status for next week is not determined.) Cignetti plugged in backup Tayven Jackson, Jackson-Davis’ younger brother. All he did was direct the Hoosiers to touchdown drives of 19 and 51 yards, punctuating both of them with scoring passes.
Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola was the Must Have recruit in Class of 2024, a consensus 5-star that the Cornhuskers flipped from an oral commitment to mighty Georgia.
Raiola led the Huskers to wins over Colorado, Purdue and Rutgers. He had nine touchdown passes and only three interceptions. He looked the part of a phenom in the making.
Until Saturday. Raiola threw one, two, three interceptions without a touchdown pass. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule refused to pull him in the fourth quarter — even after Rhule, the former coach of the Carolina Panthers, earned a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
One team was exposed as a national impostor Saturday. And it wasn’t Indiana.
"If we keep winning people are going to come," Cignetti said. "With success comes belief, comes confidence, comes success -- that cycle."
Indiana Football Coverage:
- BOZICH | How critical is football transfer portal at QB? The numbers don't lie
- Rourke helps No. 23 Indiana stay unbeaten with 41-24 victory over Northwestern
- BOZICH | Dream on: Indiana 5-0 for first time since 1967 after beating Maryland, 42-28
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