On Saturday, Indiana football experienced the thrill of victory while Penn State endured the agony of defeat. They squeaked by with a 27-24 win and remain undefeated at 10-0, ranked No. 2 in the nation.
After the victory, head coach Curt Cignetti got so caught up with emotion that he now explains why, per Zach Osterman of The Indy Star.
“I did get a little choked up there at the end, just because I was so proud of our guys,” he said.
Ultimately, Indiana managed to stave off a Penn State comeback. In the 4th quarter, the Nittny Lions outscored the Hoosiers 14-7. However, the heroics of QB Fernando Mendoza came through at the right time. With 36 seconds left, Mendoza threw a pass to WR Omar Cooper Jr. that became the winning touchdown.
Altogether, Indiana mounted a 10-play 80-yard drive. The Hoosiers are building on the success of the previous season, when they started 10-0 and finished 11-2. In the end, Indiana won the Big 10 championship and made it to the College Football Playoff.
However, they lost to Notre Dame in the first round. At this point, many expect the Hoosiers to repeat as Big Ten champions.
Indiana's ascent to national prominence in football is quite a switch
Obviously, when many think of Indiana University, their first thought is its basketball success. After all, they produced some of the greatest names in the game and had the legendary Bobby Knight as head coach, who helped put the program on the map.
Now the tide has turned in Bloomington, where the gridiron has replaced the hardwood as the campus's focal point.
While Indiana remains a basketball university and state, the football team has become a force to be reckoned with. In part because there is a tremendous amount of expectation placed upon the basketball program to be successful based on the past.
Meanwhile, the football team has nothing to lose and isn't weighed down by all that. Therefore, they can go out and do their thing.
