IU @ Purdue

Kaelon Black had two touchdown runs and Fernando Mendoza and Roman Hemby each ran for scores as No. 2 Indiana beat rival Purdue 56-3 on Friday night, completing the first perfect regular season in school history and securing a Big Ten championship game berth.

The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0, No. 2 CFP) also likely locked up a second straight College Football Playoff berth.

 Curt Cignetti became the first Hoosiers coach since Bo McMillin in 1934-35 to win his first two matchups against Purdue.

Purdue (2-10, 0-9) endured more misery in the coldest game ever played at Ross-Ade Stadium, with a kickoff temperature of 24 degrees Fahrenheit. The Boilermakers closed coach Barry Odom's first season with a 10th straight loss and posted their second straight winless season in conference play, the first since 1919-20.

Many wondered if the Hoosiers would be one-hit wonders after last year's historic season. But Cignetti promised there would be no decline in 2025 — and there wasn't. With the nation's second-best scoring offense and scoring defense, a Heisman Trophy front-runner and a perfect record, the Hoosiers are better positioned to make a playoff run than they were last year.

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

espn game recap 

2025 Bucket Game

The 2025 Bucket Game
The #127 meeting
Indiana and Purdue
The Battle for the Old Oaken Bucket
For the #100 time!
Bring It!

Yet another record

 

Indiana now owns the longest home winning streak in major college football. The Hoosiers have won fifteen home games in a row, the best in the nation.

Photos copyright Indiana University Athletics 

Wisconsin

 

This would be the last home stand for a few seniors who had made the jump to follow coach Curt Cinetti. Slightly and rarely recruited Cignetti saw their potential in himself and with them. Coming from James Madison Coach Cig brought a nucleus of players with him to Indiana with the mindset that that production beats probability.

The Hoosiers would improve to a program first 11-0 with a 31-7 victory over Wisconsin. For the game Fernando Mendoza would finish with 299 total yards completing 22 of 24 passes. His fourth touchdown pass would place him in first place with 30 touchdown passes in a single season surpassing Kurtis Rourke’s 29 in 2024.

The defense would hand the offensive the ball in excellent field position. A forced fumble by Stephen Daley, recovered by Hosea Wheeler at the Wisconsin 21-yard line, set up the Hoosiers next score. This turnover led to a 21-yard TD pass from Mendoza to Riley Nowakowski, a Wisconsin transfer, extending the Hoosier's lead.  For the season 96 points would be scored off turnovers. 

Sources:
The Helmet Project found here:
http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm
Photo © The B1G Network
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums
Game summary © ESPN 

@ Penn State

 

The Hoosiers would take on the Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium at University Park PA with a noon ET kickoff.

The Nittany Lions, who in the pre-season were ranked #2 in the country and were considered legitimate contenders for a national championship, found themselves 3-5 for the season and 0-5 in B1G play. Three games into the Big Ten season Penn State had parted ways with coach James Franklin as backers had grown impatient with his overall Big Ten performance. Franklin’s $49 million buyout would be the second largest in college football history, only behind Jimbo Fisher’s $76 million Texas A & M payout.  

The Hoosiers would enter the contest having never won at Bever Stadium in Happy Valley.

There had been close calls, but usually it had been a house of horrors. 

It all came down to a third and goal at the Penn State 7-yard line with 0:36 remaining in the game. Omar Cooper Jr. jumped to catch a pass from Fernando Mendoza in the back of the end zone, sweeping his inside foot within inches of the field of play to go ahead 27-24 to save the No 2 Hoosiers from their first loss of the season.  

“It was the most improbable victory I have ever been a part of,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said. “And there have been a better place to make it happen.”

The Hoosiers improved to 10-0 for the season and remained ranked #2 in the country. 

Sources:

The Helmet Project found here:

http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm

Photo © The B1G Network and ESPN

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums

Game summary © ESPN 

@ Maryland

 

Fernando Mendoza threw for a touchdown and ran for one, and No. 2 Indiana remained undefeated with a 55-10 rout of Maryland.

Mendoza recovered from an early interception, and he also had to play most of the game without his top target. Star receiver Elijah Sarratt left in the first quarter with hamstring tightness, ending his nation-leading streak of 46 consecutive games with a catch.

Still, this was another one-sided game for the Hoosiers (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten), who since winning at Oregon have added victories over Michigan State, UCLA and Maryland by a combined 120 points.

Indiana outrushed Maryland 367-37.

Roman Hemby, who transferred from Maryland to Indiana, ran for 88 yards on 18 carries against his old team. Black rushed for 110 yards and Martin added 80.

Sources:
The Helmet Project found here:
http://nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/index.htm
Photo © The B1G Network
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1145292-power-ranking-all-124-college-football-stadiums
Game summary © ESPN