EUGENE, Ore. — The scoreboard registered the historic result—No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20—and suddenly there was something occurring that was almost as rare as the Hoosiers beating a top-five opponent. There was a field storm of sorts by the visiting fans.
Crimson gradually spilled out of the Autzen Stadium stands and onto the artificial turf, because it had been 58 years since the Hoosiers last beat a top-five team—No. 3 Purdue in 1967, to clinch a Rose Bowl berth. So hell yes, here they came, peaceful and giddy, as if they weren’t quite sure what to do with themselves.
Bowing down before their savior coach would have been appropriate.
Curt Cignetti went to the CBS sideline set for a postgame interview while Indiana fans circled behind. An astute observer might have wondered: What was that scrawled in black ink on the back of Cig’s left hand?
Some clandestine key to victory? Some secret mantra that would be just the right touch when this whole absurd program renaissance becomes a movie? Something that explains the inexplicable rise of the Hoosiers as a football power?
Nah. Cignetti writes the names of the officiating crew on his hand so he can refer to them properly when arguing, cajoling or politicking with them during a game. (And the coach had some arguing to do in this game.)
Apologies to the screenwriters for the lack of material. There are no secret formulas, no tricks, no gimmicks. No hidden wisdom on the back of the coach’s hand.
And apologies to the sports writers who were hoping for Cignetti to revert to the brazen trash-talker he was after taking a presumed dead-end job in December 2023. Coach Google Me can now just let his team’s extraordinary play do the talking for him.
“I thought we established credibility last season and I didn’t need to be that way,” Cignetti said. “I could focus in on what I do, which is coach the football team this year.”
Halfway through this season, Indiana is legit. Like, Big Ten championship contender/national championship contender legit. This is an authentic power.
Saturday in Autzen was the final proof. Winning 11 games last year was jaw dropping, but this year is an elevation from there. A 6–0 start that includes a bludgeoning of ranked Illinois, a win at Iowa and now this—snapping Oregon’s 18-game home winning streak—is the arrival.
This is Indiana’s finest football moment. And 19 games into his tenure at the school, Curt Cignetti might be the greatest hire in college football history.
No, really. It’s time to have that conversation.
Cignetti came to the losingest school in FBS history, with 715 defeats when he arrived. The last coach who finished his tenure at Indiana with a winning record was Bo McMillin … in 1947. Bo won 15 games more than he lost in 14 years—not exactly dominance. Cignetti is 17–2 at a place that was 4–15 in the 19 games before he arrived.
“Everything he ever said he was going to do in our [job] interviews, he’s done,” says Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson down on the field. “He earned this, and everything else.”
It is almost a crime against football that Cignetti had to wait until he was 62 to get his shot at a Power 4 job (and at Indiana, no less). He has been a relentless winner at every level, from Division II to FCS to FBS outside the power-conference club. As Penn State and other programs look on with undisguised Cignetti lust, he is making up for lost time at a breathtaking pace.
If you’ve watched the Hoosiers over the decades—and I have—this is mind-shattering. But if you watched them Saturday in a context-free vacuum, they were the better team.
Indiana outgained Oregon on the ground. Indiana outgained Oregon through the air. Indiana trailed for just five minutes and led for more than 24 ½ minutes. Indiana had six sacks to Oregon’s one, and eight tackles for loss to Oregon’s four. Indiana won the turnover battle 2–1, and time of possession by more than six minutes.
The Ducks had two huge plays: a 44-yard touchdown bomb in the first quarter, and a pick-six in the fourth. The Hoosiers shrugged them both off and kept coming.
“We believed, expected, prepared to make it happen, and we could handle the ups and downs of the game without flinching, showing frustration and anxiety,” Cignetti said. “That was the only thing you don’t know until you play the game. And we passed that test.”
Nobody passed it more impressively than quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who continues to perform like the best transfer portal quarterback addition in the nation. The California transfer glided through the first four games of the season with 14 touchdown passes and no interceptions, but the past two games—both on the road—he has shown his mettle and his poise.
In the fourth quarter of a tie game at Iowa, Mendoza threw his first interception of the season. The Indiana defense held, and when the Hoosiers got the ball back, Mendoza threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt for what would be the winning score.
Saturday against Oregon, Mendoza was rushed and threw a long crossing route without setting his feet. Ducks defensive back Brandon Finney Jr. undercut the route, made the interception and ran it back for a tying touchdown, detonating bedlam in the stadium.
On the Indiana sideline, everyone rallied around Mendoza.
“Basically everybody on the team come up to me, ‘Hey, we’re still behind you, we got your back,’ ” Mendoza said. “And that can be very frustrating for a defense who’s played so well the entire game, then for the offense to allow a touchdown. So to have everybody have belief in our offense … was phenomenal. There was no panic.”
The Hoosiers responded with a brilliantly executed drive, going 75 yards to take the lead back for good. Mendoza hit Sarratt three times on the drive, including the go-ahead touchdown on a third-down rope to the front corner of the end zone.
“That’s like being the rubber ball, right?” Cignetti said. “You don’t want to be like the crystal chandelier that when you drop, it breaks in a million pieces. You want to be like a rubber ball that bounces right back into your hand. And that’s the way he did after he threw the interception.”
Mendoza finished the game 20 of 31 for 215 yards and a touchdown, while also running for 31 yards. (Offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan called an excellent game, including a few designed runs for Mendoza that led to first downs.) A guy who came out of high school as the No. 134 quarterback in the class of 2022 continues to keep himself in the lead group of Heisman contenders.
But the bigger story for Indiana on Saturday was the dominant play of its defense. Oregon prides itself on blowing past opponents with speed and daring, but the Ducks were absolutely stuffed by the Hoosiers.
This was Oregon’s fewest points since Nov. 19, 2022. Last time the Ducks were held to one or fewer offensive touchdowns? Also 2022, a 49–3 loss in the season opener to Georgia. Quarterback Dante Moore, who had been sensational thus far, was at times hesitant and at times harassed in a fairly ordinary performance.
“Our defense really got after him,” Cignetti said.
When it was over, the Indiana fans got after Autzen. It was another in a series of surreal scenes for what once was the deadest of football programs.
“It’s a new day, my friend,” said Indiana president Pamela Whitten, standing on the field as IU fans frolicked around her. “It’s a new day. I’m not kidding. We strive to be the best in everything we do academically and athletically. So this is who Indiana is now.”
