You’d have to show me some evidence that if you were asked what state might be the hotbed for all football this year you would laid even a dime on the choice of Indiana. Basketball, of course. Auto racing, sure. Cycling, perhaps. But football? Seriously?
Yet here we are, past the quarter pole this fall and, as we’ve documented extensively, the Colts are tied for the best record in the NFL; they’ve also scored more points than any other fellow one-loss team. And as for the Indiana University Hoosiers? CBS SPORTS’ Tom Fornelli exemplified the level of disbelief that was permeating through the country yesterday:
So … do you believe yet, or are you going to twist yourself in circles looking for a way to dismiss No. 7 Indiana again? Maybe, if you squint hard enough, you can convince yourself that No. 3 Oregon needed double overtime to beat a Penn State team that’s lost to UCLA and Northwestern since. Clearly, Penn State stinks, so beating it is no big deal. Therefore, Indiana beating Oregon isn’t a big deal.
Or are you ready to accept the fact that college football is different now than it was a few years ago? We’re in an era where hiring the right coach and investing money wisely into your football program can quickly change your fortunes, but while most of the college football world has been looking to Texas Tech as some kind of test case for the transfer portal and NIL spending, Indiana’s been here over a year now.
There’s no dismissing what happened in Eugene on Saturday. Indiana went on the road and beat No. 3 Oregon 30-20, and it was no fluke. This was an Oregon team that came into the Big Ten last year and went undefeated en route to winning the conference. It was the same Oregon team that had the nation’s longest win streak of 23 games, and the same Oregon team that had the nation’s longest home winning streak at 18 games.
THE ATHLETIC’s troika of Alex Kirshner, Jason Kirk and Sam Settleman threw some additional chum into the waters that IU is clearly no longer merely treading in:
As our Until Saturday newsletter noted a few weeks ago, this year’s Hoosiers had already been No. 2 in the computers. Yesterday, that status was affirmed, thanks to:
- A significant upgrade at QB in the form of Fernando Mendoza, the Cal transfer who threw a bad pick six but moved Indiana with 246 total yards, mostly outplaying Dante Moore in the potential Heisman showdown. “We’re not just a one-hit wonder,” said the new QB afterward.
- A feisty defensive front that sacked Moore six times and picked him off twice in a fired-up Autzen Stadium.
- A true No. 1, Biletnikoff Award-contending receiver in James Madison transfer Elijah Sarratt, who came over with Cignetti two years ago. Sarratt was already good, but he’s become a real terror this year and caught the decisive TD yesterday. In addition to his eight catches for 121 yards, Sarratt drew an obvious pass interference penalty that officials missed, nearly causing Cignetti to get T’d up (Indiana term).
- General continuity in Cignetti’s second year.
Change seems to be the order of the day practically every Saturday to date. It was Indiana’s first trip to the Autzen Duck Pond as a conference rival; their only previous trip was 21 years ago where they pulled off an upset against a decidedly less competitive Oregon squad than the one they beat yesterday. So maybe the damp faithful weren’t expecting what hit them. But, in hindsight, even they shouldn’t be all that surprised.
Far more shocked should be the fans of that other formerly unbeaten OU who witnessed arguably an even more surprising result that THE ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Stephen Hawkins reported on:
Ryan Niblett returned a punt 75 yards for a decisive touchdown in the fourth quarter and Texas got a much-needed 23-6 win over sixth-ranked Oklahoma in the annual Red River Rivalry game on Saturday.
Arch Manning completed 21 of 27 passes for 166 yards and the go-ahead 12-yard TD to DeAndre Moore Jr. on the opening drive of the second half for the Longhorns (4-2, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), who were coming off a loss at Florida that knocked the preseason No. 1 team out of the AP Top 25.
Texas retained the Golden Hat trophy and should get back into the next poll. More importantly, the Longhorns avoided a loss that likely would have ended any realistic chance of getting into the College Football Playoff for the third year in a row.
On the other hand, both the wagons and the toilet bowl eddy of a season unfolding in what now is clearly Unhappy Valley were circling in an even more incindiery vortex and the official beginning of a death watch for one James Franklin, as the ATHLETIC threesome also shared:
If Penn State had blown out UCLA last week and then lost at home yesterday as a three-TD favorite against 4-2 Northwestern, yesterday’s 22-21 loss would’ve been viewed as merely a catastrophe for Franklin.
Well, Penn State losing to UCLA was already the catastrophe, so … I don’t know which word to use for the current situation. Apocalypse? “First time an FBS team lost consecutive games as an outright favorite of at least 20 points in the last 30 years,” per CBS.
The preseason No. 2 team is 3-3, heading into four road games (including Ohio State) and two tough home games (including Indiana). With QB Drew Allar now done for the year (and thus likely his college career) due to a leg injury from this game (his backup is redshirt freshman Ethan Grunkemeyer, who has 13 career throws), a losing record is on the table. The updated goal: avoid becoming one of the most disappointing teams of all time.
Take heart, Duck Nation. Things coule be a lot worse.
Courage…