The No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers, unbeaten at 11-0, are set to meet Purdue Friday night for the 100th Old Oaken Bucket game. And waiting on the other sideline are the Purdue Boilermakers (2-9), winless in Big Ten play and riding a nine-game losing streak.
Head coach Curt Cignetti, who took over the reins in late 2023 after coaching at James Madison, spoke about how the belief inside the program began long before anyone outside noticed.
The coach recounted landmark moments of his team's journey. These moments include a commanding home result against top-10 Illinois, surviving the noise in Iowa’s stadium, knocking off Oregon while critics still lingered.
“I think every head coach has some questions about their team. And I made a note right before we started camp, just had a feeling that this could be a special one. Things have come together as such, and we've had some big road wins. The first real big game was Illinois. They were ninth in the country. And we had a very decisive win here at home,” Cignetti said on NBC Sports.
“Then you go to Iowa, which is a really tough place to play, and pull that out at the end of the game. And then Oregon was two or three in the country at the time. And I think that was a big step for us, because there were still a lot of doubters nationally. It was a good win.”
Indiana’s 2024 rise was explosive, but its first-round stumble vs. Notre Dame in last year's playoff revealed a team still learning to survive big-time moments. Even with this year's dominant performance, the Hoosiers have more steps before claiming elite-tier permanence.
But, for this matchup, the math is simple for the Hoosiers — win, and history is secured. A victory would deliver the school’s first perfevt regular season, punch its first ticket to the Big Ten Championship Game, and almost certainly cement another run in the College Football Playoff.
Cignetti followed that by addressing the never-ending skepticism cycle teams like Indiana must confront when climbing rapidly.
“Today's a new day. We've got to maximize the off week and go into Purdue prepared. If there are doubters and we see that stuff, it only fuels the motivation, so to speak.” he added.
The Hoosiers now chase not just a perfect season, but a postseason that changes the definition of perfect itself. Another week, another chance to stack a louder resume.
