Undaunted, Undefeated
The Indiana Hoosier football team is 8-0 (5-0) and atop the Big Ten standings as we approach November.
This is our new reality.
Today’s 14-point victory is tied for Indiana’s closest game of the year, but may have been Indiana’s most complete despite the imperfections. The defense stepped up in a huge way, the offense kept grinding and made second-half adjustments, and the team overcame adversity.
Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers can beat teams in multiple ways, with or without a star quarterback. The entire country is officially on notice.
Here are three things we learned:
D’Angelo Ponds
The entire defense deserves credit today, but D’Angelo Ponds is worth singling out as a microcosm of Indiana’s team success this season. He had two interceptions in the first half, including a momentum-shifting pick six that stopped a promising early drive for Washington.
Ponds had some huge open field tackles today too, bringing down Washington backs and receivers that were among the top in the conference in yards after contact.
For somebody who was named to the Freshman All-America team last season, Ponds’ success this year should come as no surprise. As a true freshman, he was 11th in the FBS for passes defended with 15.
The problem was, these stats came from his season at James Madison, so people doubted whether he could succeed in the Big Ten.
Ponds, along with his head coach and many of his defensive teammates, like Aidan Fisher and Jailin Walker, are putting that narrative to bed. Good players and good coaches win football games, and Indiana is currently undefeated.
Teams like Ohio State may have some depth that could wear Indiana down, but until Indiana loses a game, I’m done hearing about a talent gap between the Hoosiers and the rest of college football’s elite.
Kurtis Rourke
Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke, who has recently started popping up in Heisman discussions, missed today’s game and his absence was felt. The Hoosiers high-powered passing attack was limited to one touchdown on just 19 passing attempts versus 52 run plays.
This is in no way a knock against Tayven Jackson, who played well enough to get Indiana the win in his first start since last season. He clearly has the physical tools too, delivering some good passes when his receivers were open including one off his back foot with pressure in his face on third down.
He hasn’t had the experience Rourke has had in college football though, and couldn’t make the same reads and decisions that we had gotten used to over the first seven weeks. In the longterm, having Jackson get these snaps will help him become more like Rourke when he has the chance to be the full time starter.
For the sake of this season though, the ceiling is clearly much higher with Rourke in, so Indiana should do everything it can to make sure he’s fully healthy before his return.
The Coaching Staff
Indiana was better than Washington today, as a whole. All credit for this goes to Curt Cignetti and his staff.
There are plenty of players who stood out on both sides of the ball today, but the fact is that this team has had a variety of guys step up over the course of the season, and the team always responds well to big moments.
After Jackson’s interception to start the second half (on a missed pass interference call), Washington was set up for an easy touchdown to bring the game within three. This was the exact opposite of what Indiana needed, after the offense struggled to get the defense off the field in the first half.
Instead of folding, Mike Shanahan dialed up a 14 play, 7:34 second touchdown drive to regain a ten point lead. Then Bryant Haines unit came out to force back-to-back punts, the latter of which Myles Price returned 65 yards to Washington’s 14 yard line.
That’s how you put a team to bed, and it’s something Indiana has been able to do all season, no matter what’s thrown its way. There really isn’t enough to say about the culture Cignetti has been able to establish in his first year in Bloomington.