IU football makes statement with 53-point thrashing of No. 9 Illinois
- Josh Pos
- 1h ago
His offense was already off the field. It was fourth and one and Curt Cignetti’s team was on its own 50-yard line in a tie game in the first quarter.
During an Illinois timeout, Cignetti waved the offense back onto the field for a discussion. Moments later, he sent the punt team out and it looked like the Hoosiers would punt for a second straight possession.
A moment’s notice found the punt team on the bench as the offense raced into formation on the left hash of the 48-yard line.
Roman Hemby picked up a first down with a two-yard run up the middle. Although a modest gain, it turned out to be the biggest play of the game.
After moving the sticks, Indiana needed just two plays to traverse 50 yards and take a 14-7 lead against No. 9 Illinois.
It was an advantage the 19th-ranked Hoosiers never relinquished.
Led by quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the Hoosiers scored 56 of the game’s final 59 points. IU cruised to a 63-10 rout of the Fighting Illini on Saturday night.
A night years in the making, Cignetti and Indiana had a prime opportunity to make a statement in front of a national audience. The national perception was that Indiana’s 11-win season in 2024 mainly stemmed from its relatively easy schedule.
Doubt vanished quickly as Indiana seized early momentum, making top-10 Illinois appear outmatched and unworthy of sharing the field. Whether it was scoring on seven consecutive drives or winning the ground battle 312-2, the Hoosiers demonstrated total control throughout.
Indiana’s 63-point outburst marked the highest point total ever by a Big Ten team against an AP top-10 opponent. It was a performance that underscored the Hoosiers’ total command on both sides of the ball.
Illinois had no answers at any level. Like much of the audience, the Illini looked stunned as the game quickly slipped away from them.
The Hoosiers amassed 579 yards of total offense, while the defense stifled Illinois, holding the visitors to just 161 yards.
As Indiana’s sideline erupted after every scoring drive, Illinois wore the look of a team that had nothing left to give.
“We broke their will,” Cignetti said postgame.
Neither Cignetti nor any of his players will fully admit it, but Indiana played Saturday night’s game with something to prove.
Cignetti is nowhere near as brazen as he was last season. However, his consistent effort to silence doubters rubbed off on his players.
“We like to block out the noise here,” cornerback D’Angelo Ponds said. “We don’t really tune into much of that, but we definitely know what they were saying about us.”
Ponds was quick to acknowledge how outsiders could dismiss Saturday’s dominance. He and his teammates remain unfazed by lingering outside skepticism. Their focus will continue to be fixed on performance, rather than outside opinions.
Saturday night was a coming-out party for Indiana football in more ways than one. Bloomington was full of high hopes all week in anticipation of IU football.
For years, when a top-10 team visited Bloomington, opposing fans often filled half the stadium. By halftime, Indiana fans were usually back at the tailgate fields, the game already forgotten.
None of that happened on Saturday.
A program-record 56,088 fans filled Memorial Stadium with something that hasn’t been seen in years: pride in Indiana football.
“It was great, just to hear the crowd roar,” Ponds said. “It was just surreal.”
Ranking was hardly a topic of importance throughout non-conference play. The consensus was that Indiana would have its chance to earn its ranking in week 4 against Illinois.
Now that the primetime tilt ended in his team’s favor, Ponds believes that his team is among the best.
“We deserve to be in the top 10,” he said. “We proved that today.”
Ranking aside, Indiana football didn’t just prove that last year’s dominance was no fluke — it offered a glimpse of the powerhouse Curt Cignetti is building.
Gone are the days of celebrating tailgate wins and treating football season as a warm-up for basketball.
Bloomington is officially on the college football map — and with Cignetti at the helm, Saturday night may have been just the beginning.
Indiana didn’t just go for it. It took over.
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