Indiana football took Illinois to the woodshed on Saturday. The Hoosiers posted 63 points on the scoreboard, en route to a 63-10 victory. It was a powerful statement. Curt Cignetti, in his second season, has his Indiana team again looking like a College Football Playoff contender.
While Indiana shocked the college football world in its 2024 run to the CFP, it won't be shocking many people now. Cignetti has the Hoosiers ranked, and looking like a contender in the Big Ten Conference this year.
Indiana is 4-0 on the campaign. The Hoosiers posted 579 total yards of offense against an Illinois team that just had no answers in the game.
“We broke their will,” Cignetti said after the game, per ESPN.
The stats prove it. Indiana held Illinois to just two rushing yards, and 161 total yards of offense. It was a defensive masterclass put forward by Cignetti and company. That defense is clearly good enough to beat anybody in the country, when allowing just 161 yards in a game.
Illinois entered the game with a top 10 ranking in the Associated Press College Football poll, so the win is even more impressive for Indiana.
Indiana's offense has a gem of a quarterback
One of the reasons why Indiana looks destined for another CFP trip, is due to their quarterback play. Fernando Mendoza lit up the Illinois defense. He now has three straight games of at least four touchdown passes, without an interception.
Mendoza is in rare company. He joins C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, Caleb Williams and Tua Tagovailoa as the only playoff-era quarterbacks to do that.
“You're never going to be 100% perfect, and if you are, there's always going to be something, one play in the game,” Mendoza said. “But it's that drive to be perfect and to never be complacent. And that's the reason I came here, to become the best quarterback that I could become, and see my development accelerate, is what I want, and I want to keep on accelerating tenfold.”
With a quarterback that effective, it is foolish to underestimate this Indiana team. The weeks ahead will surely prove whether the Hoosiers belong in the CFP conversation. Their upcoming conference slate includes matchups with Oregon and Penn State.
“We deserve to be in the top 10,” Indiana cornerback and special teams player D'Angelo Ponds said. “We proved that today.”
If Indiana can defeat Oregon or Penn State, and win out the rest of their schedule, then they will likely be in the CFP. The Hoosiers next play Iowa on Saturday.
The win over Illinois showed though how brutally effective this Indiana team can be.
