The Indiana football team has cast a shadow over much of the Big Ten this fall. The Hoosiers are historically among the most putrid of college football programs but not in 2024 with their 10-0 record, shot at a Big Ten championship and in solid contention for a spot in the 12-team college football playoffs.
Their success stands in contrast to not only the school’s bottom-feeding past but many other Big Ten programs who seldom deliver elite results including top 10 national rankings. Among those programs are the Golden Gophers who ironically won their last conference championship in 1967 when they finished in a three-way tie for the title with the Hoosiers and Purdue. That was Indiana’s last league title, too.
What’s happened at Indiana? The Hoosiers’ surreal success has been fueled by coaching, player transfers, health and scheduling. Those are the reasons the Hoosiers are a lofty No. 5 in the Associated Press national college football rankings.
First-year head coach Curt Cignetti, 63, is extraordinary. The college football world is seeing what others observed when Cignetti was on a smaller stage at places like James Madison. He is a football savvy, confident, demanding, ambitious and determined leader who refuses to accept the expected and knows how to deliver the results he wants.
Cignetti and his staff have taught their players to execute assignments with consistency and at a high level. Mistakes, including turnovers, are minimum. The Hoosiers also play with purpose and robust energy. They sometimes also play with an edge in strategy provided by their coaches, including when they successfully disguise the pre-snap intentions of their defensive linemen.
Coaches, of course, no matter how gifted, can’t win without talent. The Hoosiers, although not loaded with four and five-star recruits, have players who are physically and mentally able to perform at a high level in their systems. Offense, defense and special teams, it’s evident that the Indiana coaching staff found players who fit what they demand.
Indiana has 28 players who transferred into the program for the 2024 season, per 247Sports last week. Many of them are key contributors and came from a lower level of college football including James Madison where the Cignetti-led Dukes of 2023 went 11-2. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who was at Ohio U, is the marquee transfer name and is even a dark horse candidate to win the Heisman Trophy.
Rourke, who is one of the few Hoosiers likely to be drafted by an NFL team next spring, hurt his right thumb in the October 19 Nebraska game. He missed the second half of the game, and the following week was out against Washington. In Rourke’s absences the do no wrong Hoosiers didn’t flinch behind the play of backup quarterback Tayven Jackson.
After surgery, Rourke came back to help keep the Hoosiers’ Hollywood story rolling. His injury is one of the few significant ones sustained by the Hoosiers. The team lost left guard Drew Evans last week for the season due to an Achilles injury, but the roster has been remarkably healthy. Player availability, or durability as coaching legend Bud Grant used to say, is so significant in determining outcomes of games and Indiana has been fortunate.
Fortunate, too, has been the schedule that included nonconference cream puffs Charlotte, FIU and Western Illinois. The Hoosiers play No. 2 ranked Ohio State in Columbus on November 23 but overall their Big Ten schedule has been friendly. They don’t play the league’s two other top teams, undefeated Oregon, ranked No. 1 in the nation by the A.P., and once beaten Penn State, ranked No. 4.
But give the Hoosiers credit for manhandling most of their opposition. Until last Saturday’s 20-15 win over defending national champion Michigan, Indiana’s narrowest victories were a pair of 14-point triumphs over Maryland and Washington.
Indiana’s record last season under Tom Allen was 3-9 overall, 1-8 in conference games. The Hoosiers’ success is the best story in college football this fall but it’s not the only one of “Davids” rising up against “Goliaths.”
Vanderbilt is a graveyard for college football but has commanded respect this fall with its 6-4 record including an upset of then No. 1 ranked Alabama on October 10. The Vandy revival is led by quarterback Diego Pavia, a transfer from New Mexico State who happened to land in Nashville along with Jerry Kill who is a senior advisor and chief consultant to head coach Clark Lea.
Colorado, nationally ranked and 7-2 on the season, has been transformed from one of the nation’s worst programs by coach Deion Sanders’ obsession with the transfer portal. The 2024 Buffs have a nation-leading 49 transfers, per On3.com.
The transfer portal has brought more parity to college football. Immediate eligibility at a new school is appealing to players who might be sitting on the bench at a traditional powerhouse school, or players who want to try competing at the Power Four level.
The portal brought Max Brosmer to Minnesota after his All-American quarterback career at New Hampshire. Brosmer’s performance this fall has him in the discussion of the better quarterbacks in Gopher history. And he’s not alone on the list of Minnesota transfer contributors including defensive back Jack Henderson, cornerback Ethan Robinson, running back Marcus Major and wide receiver Elijah Spencer.
Revenue sharing with players is on the horizon, likely to come next year. Speculation is Power Four schools will have budgets to pay players in the range of $20 million. A chance to play right away via the portal and make more money will give the Indianas and Minnesotas an opportunity to acquire talent that was unlikely years ago. (And traditional have nots who can provide significant Name, Image and Likeness rewards for players will only strengthen their ability to recruit personnel.)
A jump in collegiate football parity has arrived and should continue indefinitely. The Big Ten football standings show that. The Gophers, 4-3 in league games, sit in a traffic jam with 10 other teams that have three or four losses.
Minnesota, winners of four straight before a disappointing loss at Rutgers last Saturday, has two games remaining and a muddled outlook regarding a bowl destination. Fans cringe at the thought of returning to Detroit but in the unpredictable world of college football something better may await including Charlotte, Nashville or Florida.
Indiana has certainly proven how wacky things are. Upon arrival in Bloomington after being hired, Cignetti boldly listed a few programs that suck, including Michigan. The Wolverines may have used that as motivational bulletin board material last week but once again the clock didn’t strike midnight for the “Cinderella Hoosiers.”
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