No. 19/17 IUFB vs. No. 9/8 Illinois - Sat 9/20 @ 7:30 on NBC

[JSHoosier]

https://www.nbcsports.com/college-football/news/takeaways-from-week-4-of-college-football-indiana-makes-a-statement-clemson-collapses-again

3. Indiana football has some serious staying power.

Curt Cignetti clearly wanted to make a point on Saturday night by beating a ranked opponent by as many points as physically possible. All he heard last year was how Indiana could only beat unranked teams and would then falter against the good teams on its schedule. Well, about that … The Hoosiers obliterated then-No. 9 Illinois on Saturday with both an incredibly impressive offensive showing and a ferocious defensive performance.

 

Maybe it’s because we in the media are always looking for the Next Great Thing or trying to predict surprise teams. But we didn’t spend a ton of time this offseason talking about Indiana’s encore season. We talked about teams that could be this year’s Indiana — aka teams with favorable schedules that become CFP contenders. We didn’t talk about whether or not the Hoosiers could make back-to-back CFP appearances! But this is a legitimately solid football team with a great coaching staff that puts its players in good situations. Indiana’s schedule is more difficult this season than it was a year ago, but it’s clear that the Hoosiers aren’t going anywhere. They’re going to factor into this Big Ten race and the Playoff picture, too.

 

Oh, and welcome to the Heisman Trophy race, Fernando Mendoza.

[cthomas]

4 minutes ago, JSHoosier said:

Curt Cignetti clearly wanted to make a point on Saturday night by beating a ranked opponent by as many points as physically possible.

Cig clearly did not. He began pulling starters at the end of the third quarter and didn't throw a pass in the fourth quarter. Illinois was mentally and physically broken in the second half. Cig could have named the score.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

[Brass Cannon]

Here’s my thinking we win the games we are supposed to win and we are probably in the CFP again. Need some teams to beat each other up but really good chance. 
 

If we do that and win one of the big ones on the road we are flat out in 

[Stuhoo]

Just now, Brass Cannon said:

Here’s my thinking we win the games we are supposed to win and we are probably in the CFP again. Need some teams to beat each other up but really good chance. 
 

If we do that and win one of the big ones on the road we are flat out in 

Maryland on the road will be a tricky one—maybe just as tough a matchup as Iowa.

[Pagoda]

9 minutes ago, Brass Cannon said:

Here’s my thinking we win the games we are supposed to win and we are probably in the CFP again. Need some teams to beat each other up but really good chance. 
 

If we do that and win one of the big ones on the road we are flat out in 

I agree though I would add I think we need to play Oregon and PSU competitively due to the stupid “narrative” that developed after we had to play the two best teams on the road last year.

Before the season started IIRC we had better odds of winning 10+ games than making the CFP, and I think the difference is how we look in our two really hard road games (getting blown out would hurt our chances).

Maybe I’m wrong.  Regardless, it’s fantastic to be in the mix so far four weeks into the season.

[DChoosier]

52 minutes ago, cthomas said:

Cig clearly did not. He began pulling starters at the end of the third quarter and didn't throw a pass in the fourth quarter. Illinois was mentally and physically broken in the second half. Cig could have named the score.

I agree. We could have easily laid 77+ on them.

[OliviaPope40]

Fernando and Alberto Mendoza

Edited September 21, 2025 by OliviaPope40

[Demo]

Re-watching the game right now because it’s entirely too much fun not to. On the EJ Williams TD catch in the 2nd qtr am I the only 1 who didn’t notice that right as he made his break he started pointing up for a high throw the way a roll man points up for an alley oop? Totally missed it.

[Pagoda]

My last post on this game.

Dave Revsine in the BTN studio saying:

“Bret Beilema… assumes the position.”

lmao

[Stuhoo]

12 minutes ago, Demo said:

Re-watching the game right now because it’s entirely too much fun not to. On the EJ Williams TD catch in the 2nd qtr am I the only 1 who didn’t notice that right as he made his break he started pointing up for a high throw the way a roll man points up for an alley oop? Totally missed it.

Absolutely.

And on Cooper’s right sideline eight yard td EJ plowed the guy who was trying to get to Coop right along with Coop into the end zone.

EJ is having an A+ season. Finally!

[Brass Cannon]

3 hours ago, Stuhoo said:

Maryland on the road will be a tricky one—maybe just as tough a matchup as Iowa.

Oh totally agree.  Absolutely no gimmes left. Maybe UCLA who knows.  But we should win all but the two against Oregon and Penn State and coach is perfect in games we are supposed to win.  So let’s keep the streak alive. 
 

 

[Home Jersey]

McShay is giving us a ton of credit. Worth the listen. Nice to see some respect from the media.

He says he's starting to believe we might be able to beat Oregon and that we're definitely going to beat Iowa. Naming a ton of guys as draft prospects. Actually saying its harder to evaluate Mendoza now because Cignetti's system might have a lot to do with it. But overall he's extremely complimentary. 

 

[ebridges24]

just now getting on here, but has Fernando passed the accuracy test now, amazing QB!

[LamarCheeks]

I had the BTN on for background noise as I was working yesterday. They covered a bunch of Monday pressers from around the league. 

When they got to Illinois, Bielema actually was very complimentary of us -- from our play to the atmosphere at the stadium. Even went so far as to say he hopes they can have a similar environment for their Homecoming game this Saturday against SC (BTW, some of these B1G starting times are bizarre. Kickoff is 11 a.m. Champaign time -- 9 a.m. for SC's players). 

Of course, with the a$$-whoopin' we gave them -- he really couldn't say much bad about us! 

[Brass Cannon]

13 minutes ago, LamarCheeks said:

I had the BTN on for background noise as I was working yesterday. They covered a bunch of Monday pressers from around the league. 

When they got to Illinois, Bielema actually was very complimentary of us -- from our play to the atmosphere at the stadium. Even went so far as to say he hopes they can have a similar environment for their Homecoming game this Saturday against SC (BTW, some of these B1G starting times are bizarre. Kickoff is 11 a.m. Champaign time -- 9 a.m. for SC's players). 

Of course, with the a$$-whoopin' we gave them -- he really couldn't say much bad about us! 

Isn’t that just a typical noon kickoff?

[LIHoosier]

2 hours ago, LamarCheeks said:

Even went so far as to say he hopes they can have a similar environment for their Homecoming game this Saturday against SC (BTW, some of these B1G starting times are bizarre. Kickoff is 11 a.m. Champaign time -- 9 a.m. for SC's players). 

Before Indiana adopted daylight savings state wide, most of IU's home games were 11am kickoffs. Used to start tailgating pre-dawn, especially the back half of October.

[LamarCheeks]

1 hour ago, LIHoosier said:

Before Indiana adopted daylight savings state wide, most of IU's home games were 11am kickoffs. Used to start tailgating pre-dawn, especially the back half of October.

I wrote bizarre, but probably should've used "inconvenient." That's in the sense that Southern Cal's players will have to kick off at 9 a.m. their time -- when games with West Coast teams likely could be given later start times. 

Having to fly halfway across the country for a 9 a.m. kickoff just doesn't seem very sensible. I don't recall for sure, but I think last season, some West Coast teams were playing at Rutgers and/or Maryland at noon -- which essentially means they flew all the way across the country and had to play pretty much first thing in the morning. 
 

[Hovadipo]

34 minutes ago, LamarCheeks said:

I wrote bizarre, but probably should've used "inconvenient." That's in the sense that Southern Cal's players will have to kick off at 9 a.m. their time -- when games with West Coast teams likely could be given later start times. 

Having to fly halfway across the country for a 9 a.m. kickoff just doesn't seem very sensible. I don't recall for sure, but I think last season, some West Coast teams were playing at Rutgers and/or Maryland at noon -- which essentially means they flew all the way across the country and had to play pretty much first thing in the morning. 
 

Yep. We played Washington at 9am their time last year. They probably started their gameday routine somewhere around 4-5AM. Pretty ridiculous especially when Ohio State, PSU, and Michigan can "refuse" to do certain things like Friday night games and night games in November.

[TheWatShot]

1 hour ago, LamarCheeks said:

I wrote bizarre, but probably should've used "inconvenient." That's in the sense that Southern Cal's players will have to kick off at 9 a.m. their time -- when games with West Coast teams likely could be given later start times. 

Having to fly halfway across the country for a 9 a.m. kickoff just doesn't seem very sensible. I don't recall for sure, but I think last season, some West Coast teams were playing at Rutgers and/or Maryland at noon -- which essentially means they flew all the way across the country and had to play pretty much first thing in the morning. 
 

It might be tough, but it can be overcome. Oregon played at OSU in 2021 with a noon kickoff and won.