The Big Ten conference has plenty of great teams this football season. Two are Indiana and Illinois, who played each other on Saturday. It didn't end well for the Fighting Illini, as Indiana scored 63 points and won 63-10.
Indiana football players believed the team was good enough to reach the top 10 in college football rankings. However, it didn't play out that way in the latest Associated Press College Football poll. Indiana football is ranked no. 11 in the latest poll.
Things are even worse for Illinois. The Fighting Illini dropped 14 points from no. 9 to no. 23 after getting whacked by the Hoosiers.
Indiana is the fourth-highest ranked Big Ten team in the poll. Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon are in the top 10.
Indiana football made a statement to the Big Ten
The Hoosiers ended up ascending eight spots in the latest AP poll. Still, the squad wasn't in the top 10. Indiana players and coaches believed the win over Illinois was enough to get them to that pinnacle.
“We’ll get people’s attention with this one,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said, per the Associated Press. “The team really laid it on the line tonight. There’s nothing better than being the Grinch in the second half with a big lead. I love that feeling.”
Indiana pressed their foot on the gas, and didn't let off the accelerator. The Hoosiers posted a whopping 579 yards of total offense in the game. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was once again unstoppable, getting whatever he wanted through the air.
The loss was the worst in Bret Bielema's tenure at Illinois.
“We didn’t respond to any adversity. It started with the blocked punt and never really got anything on offense or defense,” Bielema said. “Embarrassing and at a loss for words.”
Indiana moves on to play Iowa on the road on Saturday, in a game they need to keep their College Football Playoff standing. Illinois will try and pick up the pieces, when they next play USC.
