6-Banner Sunday: IU football throttles Oregon to advance to CFP national championship game
- Staff
- 6h ago
Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.
Football’s run in the CFP continued. It was a rousing success as the Hoosiers ran Oregon off the field in Atlanta to reach the national championship game.
Also, men’s basketball returned to Big Ten play with mixed results. As usual, we will conclude with weekly shows and a look at the rest of the Indiana sports in action, which will look at women’s basketball’s continued struggles.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
• Football dominates Oregon in Peach Bowl win
• IU basketball beats Washington in return to Big Ten play
• Hoosiers win by 18 in College Park for first road win
• IU gives up 16-point lead in loss to Nebraska
• Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup
Banner #1 – Football dominates Oregon in Peach Bowl win
After the No. 1 Hoosiers won in their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1967, the next round against Oregon was another rousing success. IU fans packed Atlanta and turned it into another home-field advantage once the game kicked off.
Indiana rolled from the beginning as DeAngelo Ponds had a pick-six on the first play of the game to give IU a 7-0 lead. Oregon did answer with a touchdown. However, after that, the defense dominated, forcing three turnovers in the first half. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza turned these into points and the Hoosiers had the game in hand by intermission with a 35-7 lead.
The second half was no different as Mendoza was in charge again and finished the contest 17-for-20 with 177 yards and five touchdowns. In the end, IU won 56-22 for their second win against the Ducks this year.
Indiana is now 15-0 overall and will face Miami in its home stadium on Monday, January 19, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. IU is now just one victory away from its first national title in the program’s history and is looking to be the first college football squad ever to go a perfect 16-0.
This success has also led to multiple recruiting victories. IU got big-time commitments from both high school and the portal this week.
Banner #2 – IU basketball beats Washington in return to Big Ten play
IU basketball returned to conference play last Sunday against Washington.
As has been the case recently, the Hoosiers raced to a solid halftime lead with hot 3-point shooting. However, the second half once again saw a run by the opposition. Then freshman Trent Sisley stemmed the tide with eight points in a short period of time to put Indiana in charge again, and they never looked back in a 90-80 win.
Afterwards, IU coach Darian DeVries spoke, Inside the Hall had a photo gallery, Ryan Corazza wrote The Minute After and Film Session, Alex Bozich penned Five Takeaways and Josh Pos put together a column about Conor Enright.
Banner #3 – Hoosiers win by 18 in College Park for first road win
The Hoosiers finally got their first true road win on Wednesday. This came against a struggling Maryland side but left no doubt.
The early part of the contest was a struggle for both sides with ugly basketball. However, IU pulled away in the second half with good shot-making. In the end, Indiana won easily 84-66.
Afterwards, IU coach Darian DeVries spoke, Ryan Corazza wrote The Minute After and Film Session and Alex Bozich penned Five Takeaways.
Banner #4 – IU gives up 16-point lead in loss to Nebraska
What appeared to be headed towards a perfect week for Hoosier fans was spoiled on Saturday afternoon.
This is because Indiana blew a 16-point second-half lead and fell 83-77 to top 10 Nebraska.
Afterwards, IU coach Darian DeVries spoke, Ryan Corazza wrote The Minute After and Alex Bozich penned Five Takeaways.
At 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers continue to sit near the NCAA tournament bubble. They have a solid record but are in the midst of a tough stretch against ranked teams. IU will face Michigan State on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET on Peacock) and host Iowa on Saturday (2 p.m. ET on FOX).
Their NET sits around 30 overall. While they have no signature victories, they have kept their losses to close margins, and victories (except Incarnate Word) have come by large amounts. However, their performance in the conference will determine whether they make their first March Madness since 2023 and the results are mixed so far.
Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
Podcast on the Brink returned this week. On it, Alex Bozich is joined by Inside the Hall’s Josh Pos to discuss both IU football and basketball.
The Back Home Network has several new shows. As a result, it was on air many times this week with programming.
Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup
• Women’s Basketball’s struggles to open Big Ten play continued with losses to Maryland and Nebraska.
• Volleyball coach Steve Aird signed a contract extension after the best season in program history.
• Men’s soccer has an underclassman leaving for the pros and a former player inking a deal as well.
• Baseball has a preseason All-American.
• Softball has a freshman on a preseason watch list.
• Swimming and diving competed against Michigan with mixed results.
• Track and field took part in the Rod McCravy Memorial.
• Men’s tennis topped Butler to open its season and also had a victory against Ball State.
• Water Polo announced its upcoming schedule.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-Banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
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