INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WDRB) — Gentlemen, start your dreaming
Indiana has won the Big Ten Championship. It beat Ohio State to do it. It is heading to the Rose Bowl with the No. 1 national ranking and No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. It’s quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, should win the Heisman Trophy.
All things are possible. You may now resume blinking.
The Hoosiers, owners of more historical footnotes than national headlines, just took down the defending national champions 13-10 in front of a record title game of 68,214 in Lucas Oil Stadium.
They out-fought Ohio State. Out-toughed them. Outlasted them. And goodness, outcoached them. And after 60 minutes of trench warfare the confetti fell and Curt Cignetti, the architect of it all, was lifting a silver football and talking about getting ready to win a ball game in three weeks.
It’s the Hoosiers’ first win over the Buckeyes since 1988. Their first Big Ten championship since 1967. And it means the most unlikely Cinderella in the sport — a team that began this two-year dream as the losingest program in FBS history — now sits at 13-0, unbeaten, undaunted, and undeniable.
They are not backing into the playoff. They are kicking the door in, planting the flag, and calling shotgun for Pasadena.
From the opening snap — when quarterback Fernando Mendoza was laid out like a throw rug by Ohio State’s Caden Curry — to the final defensive stand, this was a night Indiana was supposed to survive. Instead, they conquered.
And now?
They are No. 1.
Believe it.
The game began with Fernando Mendoza flat on the turf, eyes glassy, stars circling like cartoon tweety birds. For a moment, he looked like the victim of a crime scene, and Indiana looked like it had just walked into a Buckeye buzzsaw.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is hit by Ohio State defensive end Cayden Curry on the first play from scrimmage of the Hoosiers' 13-10 victory in the Big Ten Championship game.
He left the field with help.
He missed one play.
And then? He came back and turned every play into his own personal Heisman commercial.
He threw for 222 yards on 15-of-23 passing, including the throw of the year — a 33-yard laser on 3rd-and-6 with 2:41 left, threading a dime to Charlie Becker so perfect it should have had its own theme music. The kind of throw that says, “No, I’m the best player in the country. And also the toughest.”
Mendoza's first pass of the game left him concussed. His last pass sealed Indiana’s biggest win ever.
If he’s not the Heisman Trophy winner, then maybe we should stop handing out the trophy and just give it to Caleb Williams every year for his Instagram account.
Defense by Grit, and third-down throwdowns
They said Ohio State’s offense was too good. That Julian Sayin was too polished. That Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate would run Indiana out of the building.
They were right — for about 12 minutes.
Then the Indiana defense, a patchwork of transfers, holdovers, and overlooked warriors, began to bottle the Buckeyes like they were brewing moonshine.
They held OSU to a field goal in the second half. Stopped a 4th-and-1 quarterback sneak. Sacked Sayin three times. And watched, breathlessly, as Jayden Fielding — the poor Buckeye kicker who had the world on his toe — shanked a 27-yard field goal in front of God and Gus Johnson.
Sometimes the ball doesn’t lie. Sometimes it just hooks left.
Curt Cignetti and the rebirth of the program
If this is a miracle — and it is — then Curt Cignetti is Moses, leading Indiana out of 137 years in the wilderness.
When he arrived in Bloomington, Indiana football wasn’t just bad. It was cosmically irrelevant. A conference homecoming opponent. A fall foliage backdrop for someone else's playoff bid.
Indiana players and Curt Cignetti celebrate with the Big Ten Championship Trophy after beating Ohio State 13-10 in Lucas Oil Stadium.
Now? He’s 24-2 in two seasons. He’s won at Iowa. He’s beaten Ohio State. He’s about to fly to Pasadena with the No. 1 seed in his carry-on.
Urban Meyer — who has three national titles and enough scandal mileage to start his own podcast — called it “the greatest coaching job I’ve ever seen.”
Cignetti didn’t build a team. He built a movement.
He took a Heisman-caliber quarterback from the transfer portal, crafted the offense, installed a defense that blitzes like it’s personal, and convinced a locker room of forgotten men they were championship material.
And now?
He’s taking them to the Rose Bowl.
Indiana, the school that used to run three wide receivers out just to make it look like football, is now a national title contender. No. 1. On merit.
Indiana is no gimmick. They beat Oregon. They beat Ohio State. They trailed in the second half against the most complete team in America, and they answered with a touchdown and two goal-line stands.
This isn’t a gimmick. It’s a program now.
They’ve become everything their fans never dared to dream. But they’re not going anywhere.
The losingest program in college football history just became the top seed in the College Football Playoff.
They're packing for Pasadena. And somewhere, Lee Corso is crying.
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