Curt Cignetti is reminding everybody why Indiana hired him. The Hoosiers wanted a program builder, not an inconsistent winner. Last season wasn’t a one-off, it was the start of the Cignetti era in Indiana. There was a lot of talk about who the next Indiana would be this year and before the season started, the Hoosiers were written off. After they throttled Illinois, the then-No. 9 ranked team, they put the rest of the college football world on notice: They’re back.
What makes Saturday’s 63-10 win over Illinois more impressive than anything is the dominance they showed in that game was exactly what we thought this team was going to be in the College Football Playoff last year. But again, programs aren’t built in one season. Last year was the preface for how good this team can be, this year is proof that Cignetti plans on disturbing the Big Ten blue bloods for years to come.
Fernando Mendoza proves why this Indiana team is better than last year
Cignetti has been the poster child for how to properly use the transfer portal. Last year, he plucked Kurtis Rourke from Ohio University and helped the Hoosiers crash the CFP party. And this year, he turned to Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza, who looks even better. We may not know exactly why this team is so much better than last year’s, but Mendoza is a big reason why.
Entering the year, the Hoosiers had a big question mark because we weren’t quite sure if their success last year was because of their weak schedule or if they were actually a good team. With the loss to Notre Dame, the “overrated” accusations stirred. After Saturday, they don’t need a loaded non-conference schedule to prove if they’re good enough or not.
They whooped on Kennesaw State, Indiana State and beat Old Dominion in Week 1. Now they have a top 10 win. Mendoza has been on a tear this season. He has almost 1,000 passing yards in four games with 14 passing touchdowns and no interceptions. Not only is he helping Indiana win now, but he’s helping his own Heisman campaign.
Indiana’s dominance this season is proof they should be taken seriously in 2025
Say what you want about Indiana and their schedule, the way they beat Illinois, it truly doesn’t matter who they play at this point. They’re just that good of a team and they’re good enough to hang with anybody. I don’t know if Illinois got exposed or if Indiana is just that dominant. Either way, to think this Indiana team is going to bow out this year is wrong.
This is the team we expected to see and maybe we put too high of expectations on Cignetti in his first year. But he said it himself: He wins. Last year wasn’t a one-off, this team will be around. Regardless of who they played, their dominance over Illinois means this team is better than we all thought they would be.
Cignetti is building a powerhouse in Bloomington and we all thought he bit off more than he could chew last year. It turns out, he knew exactly what he was doing and this team now looks like one of the most dangerous teams in the Big Ten.
This could just be a game in which Illinois played bad and Indiana played well. But this feels more than just one good performance. This feels like a vintage Cignetti team that’s going to be good for a while. Everywhere Cignetti has gone, he’s won. Why are we surprised that in year two after winning 11 games in year one, he’s back to his winning ways?