Indiana Continues Turnaround And Hands Oregon Its First Big Ten Loss

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza dropped back and threw off his back foot, trying to complete a pass to E.J. Williams Jr. But Oregon freshman Brandon Finney Jr. stepped in front of Williams for an interception and ran 35 yards for a touchdown that tied the game early in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon. The Autzen Stadium crowd roared, just like they had so many times during Oregon’s 18-game home winning streak.

Still, Mendoza bounced back with a touchdown pass on the next possession, the Hoosiers’ defense made two interceptions and kicker Brendan Franke added a field goal that clinched Indiana’s 30-20 victory over No. 3 Oregon.

Before Saturday, the Ducks had not lost a Big Ten conference game since joining the league last season, going 12-0 against conference opponents. They had also been 22-1 at home since coach Dan Lanning arrived in 2022.

The No. 7 Hoosiers, though, were undeterred and improved to 6-0. They will move up at least two spots when the Associated Press poll is released on Sunday as Oregon and No. 6 Oklahoma lost Saturday. Indiana could possibly achieve the highest ranking in school history, which stands at fourth in 1945 and 1967.

Saturday’s victory was the first time in program history that Indiana defeated an AP top 5 team on the road, snapping a 46-game losing streak. A year ago, the Hoosiers began 10-0 before losing at No. 2 Ohio State, 38-15. They also lost, 27-17, at No. 3 Notre Dame in the first round of the College Football Playoff, a game they trailed 27-3 late in the fourth quarter before scoring two touchdowns in the final 87 seconds.

“We didn’t win at any position in either of those two games,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti told CBS in a postgame interview Saturday. “You just try to recruit the best guys you can. But our guys had a sour taste in their mouth after Notre Dame. I certainly did.”

Several players from last season returned, and the Hoosiers signed better transfers than they had in the past, which Cignetti attributed to last season’s surprising season. On Saturday, the Hoosiers showed they were not overmatched against an Oregon team that had been impressive in its first five victories, including a 30-24 double overtime win over Penn State on the road two weeks ago.

Mendoza, a transfer from Cal, completed 20 of 31 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown and interception, only his second of the season. He is completing 72.1% of his passes for 1,423 yards and 17 touchdowns and is a leading Heisman Trophy candidate.

Roman Hemby, a transfer running back from Maryland, ran for 70 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns Saturday. And Elijah Sarratt, Indiana’s leading receiver who played for Cignetti at James Madison before joining him with the Hoosiers last season, had eight catches for 121 yards and a touchdown that put Indiana up 27-20 with 6:23 remaining.

“I love road games, hearing that crowd go silent when you make a big play,” said Sarratt, who made seven receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown at Iowa on Sept. 27. “Fernando putting the ball perfectly where he does every single time, it’s a great moment for us right now, for sure.”

Indiana’s defense was impressive, too, especially pressuring Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, who had only been sacked once and thrown one interception entering Saturday. Moore was touted as a Heisman favorite and future first round NFL draft pick, but he went 21 of 34 for 186 yards and two interceptions, both late in the second half. Indiana sacked Moore six times, with James Madison transfer Aiden Fisher and Maryland transfer Kellan Wyatt having 1.5 sacks apiece.

Oregon managed just 267 yards of total offense, the lowest total since Lanning arrived four seasons ago, and had 81 rushing yards on 30 carries. On the Ducks’ first five possessions of the second half, they had 41 total yards with a field goal, two punts and two interceptions. After Mendoza took a knee on fourth down with 32 seconds remaining, Oregon got the ball back but couldn’t score, as the Ducks sustained an uncommon home loss and the Hoosiers clinched the biggest road victory in program history.

Cignetti, though, said he had other major road wins in his career, which included 27 years as a college assistant before getting his first head coaching job in 2011 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Division II program. He then was head coach Elon University and James Madison before finally getting his first major Division I opportunity when Indiana hired him at age 62 in November 2023.

The Hoosiers at the time were 9-27 in the previous three seasons and hadn’t won a bowl game since 1991. They were arguably the worst Big Ten program. Now, Indiana is on the verge of making the CFP for the second consecutive season. The Hoosiers have no games remaining against a top 25 team, so an undefeated regular season doesn’t seem out of the question. Yes, for real. Indiana is a laughingstock no more.

Shortly after Cignetti was hired, during a press conference announcing Indiana’s first recruiting class with him at the helm, a reporter asked Cignetti how he convinced players to come to IU and buy into his culture.

“Yeah, it’s pretty simple,” Cignetti said. “I win. Google me.”

As last season wore on and the Hoosiers kept winning and facing questions about how good they were, Cignetti was brash and defended his team on numerous occasions. Cignetti claims he’s now different.

“That really wasn’t me last year,” he told the CBS postgame show Saturday. “I was somebody else. But that’s just what I thought I had to do year one. It’s been all business this year.”