Come follow me on the new hell site

Temporarily unlocked my account for the end of an era.

And so here were are at the end of this particular thread. But there will be more stories about IU football in the future. College football has been around for 150+ years but it seems like IU is only getting started. I can't wait to see what happens next. -30-

If you look back at this thread you can see how IU fans got excited about 6-6 seasons, or the possibility of winning 9 games in one season. And now we've won sixteen (16) in one year. Just unbelievable.

Curt Cignetti walked into a college town with little football success and said OSU and Michigan sucked, said he'd be at the B1G title game soon, told everyone to Google him, and literally backed all of it up in just 2 years. It seems crazy even for a movie or a video game.

For years this program had big dreamers - from Hep with his rose at the opening presser, to Wilson trying to give the team an identity, to Allen's love and enthusiasm for the team - but under Cignetti, it was a perfect storm that all clicked.

It's easy to credit NIL or the changing structure of college football or IU finally paying attention to football after years of neglect. But that would take away the work that Cignetti and his staff did in roster building and coaching. As well as the effort the players put in.

Indiana had done it. The Hoosiers were national champions and the first college team to go 16-0 since Yale in 1894. Cignetti even cracked a smile as he got the Gatorade bath. This program, with its comically unfortunate history, had reached the pinnacle.

After a late hit call, Beck was getting into rhythm with time dwindling. But at both UGA and Miami he had been known for questionable late-game decisions. And he underthrew an open Miami receiver right to Jamari Sharpe, who picked it off for the Hoosiers. Ballgame.

But Miami wasn't done. Beck found Toney for a score to get it within 3. With 2 minutes left though, IU had 2nd and 1 and needed just a yard to clinch victory. But a false start moved them back, and after two runs, they had to settle for a FG. The U would have one last chance.

But yet again Miami held their ground and at 4th and 5, the Hoosiers looked like they'd kick a field goal. Then Cignetti called a time out. Then the offense came back onto the field. And he put the ball in the hands of who else, but the Heisman winner.

After another Fletcher TD, the Hoosiers had stalled at the Miami 37. But on 4th and 5, they went for it, and once again, Mendoza found Becker off the back shoulder for a clutch grab to put Indiana in the red zone.

Miami came out revitalized in the second half, and a huge run from Mark Fletcher put them in striking distance. But then Mikail Kamara's punt block resulted in another Hoosier TD, making it 17-7 IU heading into the final frame.

IU took a 10-0 first half lead, but the pass rush was getting to Mendoza, and so they had to get creative, such as a TD run by TE Riley Nowakowski, and needed some luck, such as a doinked Canes FG to end the half.

But there was one more game left. The Hoosiers faced a Miami team that barely sneaked into the playoff but was building momentum with wins over Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Ole Miss. A ferocious pass rush and playmakers like Malachi Toney led the Canes along with QB Carson Beck.

By now, IU football was a national sensation. A 60 Minutes profile of the team that featured John Mellencamp. Cignetti's sideline scowl. Mendoza's LinkedIn page and his mom's MS battle. It was becoming stuff of legends. And lest we forget, Mendoza brought home the Heisman too.

The rest of the game was a party and Mendoza ended up with 5 TDs. Final score: Indiana 56, Oregon 22. By now there were no more doubters of what this Hoosier team could do. But they'd have to finish the job in the title game, against Miami, in Miami's home stadium.

But the Hoosiers would set the tone from play one. D'Angelo Ponds jumped a route and delivered a pick-6 on Dante Moore and the Ducks to go up 7-0. Oregon bounced back. But after a few Ducks miscues it was suddenly 35-7 Hoosiers at halftime.

Next up for the Hoosiers: Atlanta for the Peach Bowl, and a rematch against Oregon. Again, tons of Hoosier fans made the trip down to ATL, with many driving in from Bloomington. Yes IU had won the first game, but beating a team twice in one season was never an easy task.

All week long IU fans took over LA. And the game itself ended up being less of a competition than a coronation. The Hoosiers ran the ball up and down on the Crimson Tide, winning 38-3. Pat Coogan, our star center who'd transferred from Notre Dame, was named MVP.

It was the Rose Bowl. I had to be there. (Note: when I started this thread I had just moved into an apartment with my now-wife. Now we have a toddler. I told my wife years ago if IU ever made the Rose Bowl we'd go. So all three of us were at the game.)