The Hoosiers move to a 5-0 start.
Lyndon B. Johnson is in the Oval Office.
Aretha Franklin releases Respect.
The Indiana Pacers begin play in the first season of the American Basketball Association.
Indiana football begins the season 5-0.
The Hoosiers had not won five games to open the football season since 1967 until a 42-28 beatdown of the Maryland Terrapins at home on Saturday.
This game, all things considered, was an odd one. The weather was off from the jump with remnants of Hurricane Helene reached into the Midwest. The Hoosiers then promptly turned the ball over on their first two offensive drives by means of two questionable passes from the usually reliable Kurtis Rourke.
That’s adversity, the kind that crushes teams. Not many can turn the ball over that much (a third, a fumble later in the first half, occurred not long after) and keep the score manageable, let alone lead heading into halftime.
But Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers are different.
Put in countless bad situations, Bryant Haines’ defense answered the call and kept the Terps from capitalizing on the Hoosiers’ mistakes through the first half. The offense promptly drove down the field and got a 7-point cushion to rest on with Maryland getting the ball after the half.
The worst that could happen in the third quarter was a tie, which the Terps made happen with a few bobbled passes downfield and a referee-assisted 75 yard touchdown run against a defense that otherwise contained the backfield well all game.
Going up by multiple scores in the fourth quarter all but put the game to bed, with a single Terps touchdown being followed by a failed onside kick.
This game was absolutely full of the mistakes Indiana is used to. The ones that pile up and let the other team not only take advantage, but take the game and run away with it.
Not anymore. This is an all new Indiana.