Indiana football moves to 8-0 with win over Washington

The Hoosiers are off to their best start in decades.

That was a weird one.

Indiana is, and hear me out here, pretty used to grinding teams into dust with a victory all but put away by the fourth quarter. Last week’s blowout win over Nebraska is perhaps the most extreme example of this against a non-Western Illinois team.

But this was different.

The Hoosiers were without starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who left said blowout win with a thumb injury and has been ruled day-to-day as he recovers. That left Indiana’s high-powered passing offense in the hands of the relatively inexperienced Tayven Jackson.

Which, let’s speak on that for a minute.

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Jackson, younger brother of Indiana basketball legend Trayce Jackson-Davis, was brought in during the 2023 offseason to compete for the starting job. It was one he won, then lost, in a turbulent season with an offense that wasn’t necessarily built for his strengths that also got its coordinator fired less than halfway through.

He nearly led Indiana to a win over Louisville in Lucas Oil Stadium and took all the blame for a loss that, very frankly, wasn’t his fault.

Between that disaster and sitting for a season at Tennessee, not the ideal start to a career. He stuck with Indiana during the coaching transition, even through the staff acquiring a new and more experienced quarterback to compete against him.

When his time arrived against Nebraska, he tossed two touchdowns to seal the game in the second half. When the clock hit zero, Jackson threw his arm around Rourke and led him to celebrate with the student section.

It was a moment Jackson earned. But his true test came today against Washington.

The Huskies aren’t just any other team to Jackson. His father, Ray Jackson, was a prolific presence in Washington State’s secondary years ago, and Washington was one of the schools the younger Jackson was discouraged from attending during his recruitment.

It paid off for the elder Jackson, who got to watch his son knock off Washington in person as he had years ago.

And the game? Not always pretty.

Indiana had a shot to score a touchdown late in the first half with a guaranteed possession to open the second. Instead the Hoosiers got stuffed on the goal line countless times, settled for a field goal and opened said second half with a Looney Tunes style interception by a Huskies defensive lineman who was in the right place at the right time.

It felt, to some, like the old days of Indiana football.

But here’s the thing. Yes, when previous staffs and teams faced that kind of adversity, they’d fold. This staff is not them.

Curt Cignetti has been a head coach for over a decade and has been coaching the game of football even longer. He’s been in that situation, and much worse ones, before. His record should tell you: he does not fold.

Indiana faced that adversity and drove right down the field to extend a 3-point lead to two scores. Some key plays from the defense kept Washington from tightening the lead again as the offense adjusted and did its job.

Again Indiana won a game. It did so by multiple scores. It did so without trailing.

This is the new Indiana. Get used to it.