LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Indiana has waited more than a century to play a game like this.
And now, on the biggest stage the Big Ten has to offer, the Hoosiers get a shot at Ohio State — the team they haven’t beaten since 1988 — with a perfect season, a Big Ten championship and position in the College Football Playoff on the line.
No. 2 Indiana. No. 1 Ohio State. Saturday night. Lucas Oil Stadium. The first Big Ten title game to feature two undefeated teams. The first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in a conference championship in nearly a decade. The Hoosiers get a home-state venue: Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis at 8 p.m.
You don’t need much more build-up than that.
“It’s a great matchup,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said. “I’m confident we’ll respond the right way.”
This is the moment Cignetti has spent his career building toward — and the moment Indiana has spent generations waiting for. The Hoosiers have played 140 seasons of football. This is the first to finish a regular season at 12-0. They’ve been good, balanced and explosive. Now comes the hard part.
Ohio State is unbeaten, too. And they haven’t just beaten teams, they’ve buried them. They’re No. 1 in the nation in total defense, scoring defense, passing defense and red-zone defense. The Buckeyes allowed just seven points to Michigan last week. Only Texas has reached 300 yards against them all season.
Quarterback Julian Sayin looks more like a surgeon. He leads the nation in completion percentage (78.9), is third in touchdown passes (30) and is squarely in the Heisman conversation, if not at the front of it. His receivers — led by Biletnikoff finalist Jeremiah Smith — have taken over games. And when it’s time to close, freshman Bo Jackson has emerged as a physical, downhill force.
“They’ve been dominant,” Cignetti said. “They haven’t really been challenged. We respect the heck out of them.”
But Indiana may be the team built to deliver that challenge. No one in the Big Ten runs it better (229.8 yards per game). Few are more complete defensively (Top 5 nationally in scoring, rushing and total defense). And no one turns over opponents at a higher clip (nation-best +17 turnover margin).
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza has tossed a league-leading 32 touchdowns, often to the duo of Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt, both with 11 scores. But it’s what Indiana does in the trenches that has them believing they can go toe-to-toe with a program that’s had their number for decades.
That was the biggest gap last season in a 38-15 loss at Ohio Stadium. Indiana got worn down up front. Cignetti says this is a different team — deeper, more experienced, and more disciplined — with a defense that prides itself on disruption. Defensive lineman Stephen Daley leads the Big Ten in tackles for loss. Safety Louis Moore leads it in interceptions. There’s no soft spot here.
“We’ve met every challenge,” Cignetti said. “There’s a pride about playing defense here, and those guys carry it onto the field.”
There’s also pride in just how far Indiana has come. The Hoosiers are 23-2 since Cignetti arrived. They’ve blown out four Big Ten teams by 45 or more this season, something no other school has done in a single year. And while they may still trail Ohio State in tradition, infrastructure, and recruiting — “they’re in a league of their own,” Cignetti admitted — they don’t plan to trail on the scoreboard Saturday night.
“We prepare the right way,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of good football players. We believe.”
They’ll need to. In the last 27 meetings, Ohio State is 26-0-1. The Buckeyes have won five of six Big Ten title game appearances. And if the nation’s best defense shows up again, it could be more of the same.
But Indiana has already chanced the perception around its program this season. Now, it gets one game to change the way people remember it for good.
It’s not just a championship opportunity. It’s a legacy moment.
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