EUGENE, Ore. \u2013 Enough with the credibility nonsense when it comes to Indiana football.<\/p>\n
Enough with the constant scrutiny of the Hoosiers\u2019 schedule, their record against ranked teams, the worn-out stigma that they\u2019re merely a basketball school or anything else that suggests Curt Cignetti<\/a>\u2019s football program isn\u2019t the real deal.<\/p>\n You want credibility?<\/p>\n There it was on Saturday afternoon at an ear-splitting Autzen Stadium, a place where Oregon had won 18 straight games, the longest active home winning streak in the country, and a place that typically chews up and spits out opposing teams.<\/p>\n But not this Indiana team, which never expected anything but to win and did just that, a convincing 30-20 victory over No. 3 Oregon, which had won 23 straight regular-season games. And to be fair, it was much more than just a convincing victory. It was a statement victory in a game that saw Indiana recover from an interception returned for an Oregon touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie the game and saw the No. 7 Hoosiers do just about everything else it takes to win a game of this magnitude on the road.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not just a one-hit wonder,\u201d said Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who transferred from Cal to be a part of days like this and a program in Year 2 under Curt Cignetti, intent on crashing the party of college football\u2019s blue bloods.<\/p>\n As everybody from Indiana president Pamela Whitten to athletic director Scott Dolson to jubilant fans in red and white candy-striped pants celebrated on the field after the game with the players, there were chants of \u201cCig! Cig! Cig!\u201d<\/p>\n And some questions, too. One Indiana fan turned to his buddy and said, \u201cCan you believe this?\u201d<\/p>\n Cignetti and his players weren\u2019t rubbing their eyes. They could believe it. They talked all week about what it would take.<\/p>\n \u201cI really felt like our team was in a good place,\u201d said Cignetti, who led Indiana to an 11-2 record, the first 10-win season in program history a year ago. \u201cThe most important thing to me was our mindset going into this game that we believed, expected and prepared to make it happen and could handle the ups and downs of the game without flinching, showing frustration and anxiety.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the only thing you don\u2019t know until you play the game, and we passed that test.\u201d<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t just pass it. They aced it.<\/p>\n For all the accolades surrounding Indiana\u2019s College Football Playoff<\/a> appearance last season, there was more noise on the outside about what the Hoosiers didn\u2019t do \u2013 beat a ranked team.<\/p>\n Well, after being 1-72 all-time against AP top-5 teams entering Saturday\u2019s game, it\u2019s safe to say that monkey (or duck) is off Indiana\u2019s back. The Hoosiers had lost 46 straight games to top-5 foes and own the dubious distinction of being the first FBS program to reach 700 losses.<\/p>\n But that was then, and this is now. A new era of college football with NIL payments, revenue sharing, and the transfer portal, paving the way for more than just the usual suspects to have a chance to feast at the main table.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to change the way you think,\u201d said senior linebacker Aiden Fisher<\/a>, who followed Cignetti last year from James Madison. \u201cWhen we first got here, all this team knew was losing football and weren\u2019t used to being in big games. We were used to losing games and just kind of being like the punching bag of the Big Ten. I think we did a great job as soon as we got here of changing the way Indiana thinks, changing the way we think as individuals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re primed for games like this. This is why we play this game. This is why you come to Indiana. You want to play in top-ranked matchups. You want to win top-ranked matchups, and you want to play for somebody like Coach Cig, who\u2019s so confident in himself that it just flows into his players. This program is in a really good spot right now with Coach Cig at the helm of it and just how much he believes in his players and how much we believe in him.\u201d<\/p>\n What was once a losing mentality in Bloomington has suddenly transformed overnight. However, Whitten told On3 on the field as she posed for selfies with Indiana fans that \u201cthis is something we\u2019ve been working toward. We understood what having a winning football program can do for a school, and Curt was the one to get us there. I can\u2019t wait to see where we take it from here.\u201d<\/p>\n To truly appreciate what Cignetti has done, consider that Indiana had suffered through losing seasons in 14 of the previous 16 years before he arrived. One of those winning seasons came during the 2020 COVID year.<\/p>\n So while not downplaying what was easily one of the biggest wins in Indiana football history Saturday, Cignetti said the real value of the win will \u201cdepend on what we do with it from here.\u201d<\/p>\n In other words, show up for work on Monday and get ready for Michigan State.<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing about this Indiana team (6-0) that would make you think differently. The remaining schedule doesn\u2019t look menacing with no ranked teams lurking. At least, for now.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a good football team, but we knew that,\u201d said Indiana receiver Elijah Sarratt<\/a>, who caught eight passes for 121 yards and the game-deciding touchdown and continues to make his case as one of the premier receivers in college football.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the outside, people are always going to say stuff, but to us, we\u2019ve just got to keep on rolling. We know we\u2019re nowhere near where we want to be right now, so we\u2019re onto the next game starting tomorrow. \u2026 It was a big win for us, but we want to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n Cignetti emphasized several times Saturday how much respect he had for Dan Lanning<\/a> and Oregon and what a good football team the Ducks had. There\u2019s a reason Oregon had won 17 straight Big Ten league games overall and the Big Ten championship a year ago. They were averaging 46.6 points per game and more than 500 yards in offense per game.<\/p>\n On Saturday, the Hoosiers held the Ducks to 267 total yards and just one offensive touchdown. The last time Oregon was held to a single offensive touchdown at home was the 2017 season.<\/p>\n There was nothing remotely flukey about this game.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought their plan was better, and ours wasn\u2019t,\u201d Lanning said.<\/p>\n What was so impressive about that plan was the way Indiana executed it.<\/p>\n Indiana\u2019s tackling was excellent. The Hoosiers swarmed Oregon ball-carriers, usually three or four defenders at a time. They made contested catches on offense. See Sarratt\u2019s 8-yard touchdown catch in tight one-on-one coverage to put the Hoosiers ahead for good. They made all three of their field-goal attempts, one a 58-yarder by Brendan Franke<\/a> to give Indiana a 13-10 halftime lead.<\/p>\n And they absolutely dominated the fourth quarter. Indiana outgained Oregon 104-15 yards in the final quarter. In fact, until Oregon got the ball back with 32 seconds remaining and the outcome already decided, the Ducks had been held to minus-8 total yards in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n