LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Curt Cignetti said it like a man who had just watched his team plow a field.
“It’s hard to win on the road,” he deadpanned. “It’s a good win.”
It is hard. In theory. But No. 2 Indiana makes it look mechanical.
Hoosiers 55, Maryland 10. Another Saturday. Another Power Five opponent churned into the topsoil.
Big Red Machine, meet Big Crimson Combine. All right, it needs work.
Indiana does not.
Since their statement win at then-No. 2 Oregon, the Hoosiers have followed with a 120-point combined margin over Michigan State, UCLA and now Maryland. They outrushed the Terrapins 367 to 37. They had 28 first downs to 11. They held the ball for more than 40 minutes. They turned five Maryland turnovers into 24 points and turned a competitive game into another runaway.
It didn’t start clean.
Indiana’s first possession ended with an interception. Star receiver Elijah Sarratt — who’d caught a pass in 46 straight games — left in the first quarter with a tight hamstring. For a moment, Maryland had its opening.
It didn’t last.
Maryland took over at the Indiana 12 after the interception and came away with a field goal. That was its only lead. The Terps' next five possessions produced two turnovers and no points.
“It’s a veteran group,” Cignetti said. “... They know how to respond — or not to react, so to speak. The key is always your response.”
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza was intercepted on his third throw of the game — and completed 13 of his next 18. He ran for a touchdown. He threw for one. He set up two more. And when the game was out of reach, his brother Alberto came in and threw one, and added a 53-yard run, too.
But this was never going to be about the passing game.
Indiana ran the ball 52 times. It used four different backs. And it broke Maryland down the way it’s broken almost everyone else — over time.
“We started getting some turnovers and opened the game up. And then you just sort of saw like little change in that game, right?” Cignetti said. “And that's usually how it happens in the run game. Doesn't happen right away. It usually happens sometime middle third quarter, and that's what happened today.”
Maryland had just made it 20–10 with a 55-yard catch-and-run. It looked like a spark.
Indiana snuffed it out in five minutes.
Kaelon Black went 31 yards untouched for a score.
On the next snap, Devan Boykin scooped a fumble and returned it 32 yards.
Two plays later, Roman Hemby barreled in for another touchdown.
Three touchdowns in just over five minutes. From 10 points to 31. Game over.
It was the kind of sequence Indiana keeps producing — one that starts with physicality and ends with separation.
They don’t have to wow you, though they can. They don’t rely on tempo or smoke. They win with structure. With backs that break tackles. With an offensive line that leans until something bends.
And with players who do what they’re supposed to do, more often than not.
“We created five turnovers,” Cignetti said. “That’s the number one team in the country in turnover margin.”
And the defense? It gave up just 37 rushing yards. Forced three fumbles. Intercepted two passes. It has now allowed just seven total touchdowns through nine games. And only two touchdowns in the second half.
There are playoff teams with more talent. There may not be many with more clarity.
“From my standpoint, the thing I'm most proud of is the way that they listen to the message about playing one play at a time, regardless of circumstances, and you see that in the fourth quarter,” Cignetti said. “That's key to the drill to me. I mean, it’s that you're playing from the first play to the last play the same, and you know, we're getting close to getting that. We're real close. And that's why you see some of the results that you see.”
Cignetti isn’t campaigning. He’s correcting footwork. He’s managing injuries. He’s talking about depth and reps and “a lot to clean up.” That’s fine. That’s the job.
But the results keep stacking up. The margins keep growing. The identity keeps getting sharper.
Indiana doesn’t just show up anymore.
It pulls you into the deep end and then dares you to swim.
So far, no one has.
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