Indiana football finds itself one game away from hitting unknown territory. Of the school's 24 national championships, none are from football. Now IU needs one more win to play for the national title — but must scale Oregon in the Peach Bowl.
A revenge oriented Ducks team that is.
Oregon enters this Friday showdown in Atlanta with only one loss. And that defeat came at the hands of Indiana right in front of Oregon's own fans.
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning is doing his part to inspire the Ducks in this rematch. Curt Cignetti, meanwhile, likely brings his scowl despite denying he never always smiles on the Indiana sidelines.
Someone is going to be all smiles, though, at the end of the night. Time to roll out the bold predictions.
Indiana will get tested in the middle
The Hoosiers smothered Alabama by exposing the middle of the field.
Center Pat Coogan walloped defensive linemen to create wide running lanes for the ground attack. He then prevented Fernando Mendoza from getting planted for sacks.
Lanning, however, isn't rolling with the approach the Crimson Tide implemented. ‘Bama tried hitting Mendoza with early zone blitzes. The defensive whiz Lanning will test the middle.
Expect Lanning the do more than plug a nose tackle most of the night. He'll likely overload the defensive line between the offense tackles. He could even roll out a three-defensive tackle, one edge rusher look.
Oregon will attempt to match trench muscle here.
This QB will have multiple turnovers
Mendoza and Dante Moore draws NFL eyes — especially from the Las Vegas Raiders as the team picking first in April.
One will have a turnover prone game. And it won't be Mendoza.
Moore looked panicky in the last game. He's now facing the nation's best defense in these College Football Playoff games. And IU just dismantled one star already in Ty Simpson.
Here's another big concern on the side of Moore: The backfield. Oregon is small in numbers there and won't have power back Jordon Davison for this game. The Ducks also got hit with two portal entries at RB.
Indiana will force Moore to play the game of his life. That can still mean multiple turnovers.
Game comes down to these 2 elements
Coaching and the trenches.
Both Oregon and Indiana are led by renown leaders. And the remaining Big Ten representatives built their teams from the trench out.
This comes down to which line units don't get gassed and gashed. But it also comes down to which coaches make the better decisions late.
Cignetti took Oregon's game and shoved it back to its face in the last meeting. He'll aim to pull off something similar. But Lanning likely will create a trench-oriented attack to throw Indiana off its rhythm.
Still, Indiana very much looks like the team of destiny here. Last season clearly was about introducing itself as a new power. Now 2025-26 is about handing the Bloomington campus a chance to place a 25th national title banner somewhere. Only this time for football.
