Indiana Hoosiers
11-1 (8-1 Big Ten regular season)
What’s Next: at No. 7 Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind., Dec. 20, 8 p.m. ET
Head coach: Curt Cignetti (130-36 overall, 14th season; 11-1 at Indiana, first season)
About Cignetti: The 63-year-old just pulled off the biggest one-year turnaround in Big Ten history. After telling the media “I win. Google me” on National Signing Day last year, the former Nick Saban assistant at Alabama and big-time winner at James Madison (52-9 in five years) turned out to be as good as his word. This year’s team is just the third in Indiana history (joining the 1945 and 1967 squads) to reach the top 5 in the national polls.
Resume
Indiana faced just one Top 25 team during the regular season – and that turned into a 38-15 loss Nov. 23 at No. 2 Ohio State. But the Hoosiers are here for the way they overwhelmed virtually everybody else. Nebraska’s heading to a bowl game despite taking a 56-7 whipping from Indiana. Given Michigan’s win over Ohio State, the Hoosiers’ best win might be their 20-15 home win over the Wolverines Nov. 9.
Postseason history
The Hoosiers’ inaugural College Football Playoff appearance marks their first bowl game since 2020 and their first major postseason game since John Pont’s crew lost to USC in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1968. Indiana has lost its last six bowl games, so you must go all the way back to New Year’s Eve 1991 to find the last win: a 24-0 whitewashing of Baylor in the fabled Copper Bowl.
The road to Atlanta
Beating Notre Dame is an upset based on the seed line and would hand the Hoosiers another traditional college football power — No. 2 Georgia — in the quarterfinals in the Sugar Bowl.
Names to Know
QB Kurtis Rourke
After piling up 7,651 passing yards and 50 TD passes in five years at Ohio, Rourke was among the 22 transfers who joined Indiana on “Google Me” Signing Day. Despite breaking a bone in his right thumb that cost him just one game, Rourke earned second-team all-Big Ten honors with a 181.4 quarterback rating. That features a 27-to-4 TD-to-INT ratio, a 70.4 percent completion rate and 9.9 yards per attempt. Rourke isn’t a threat to run, but he’s going to put the ball exactly where the receiver needs it to be.
WR Elijah Sarrett
After catching 82 passes for 1,191 yards and eight TDs for James Madison last year, Sarrett decided to test his skills in the Big Ten. Turns out the junior measures up quite nicely as he secured third-team all-Big Ten honors after leading the Hoosiers in catches (49), yards (890) and receiving TDs (8). He’s more than willing to run the hard routes over the middle and he boasts great hands.
LB Aiden Fisher
This 6-foot-1, 233-pound junior followed Cignetti from James Madison and made a huge leap. Fisher was third-team all-Sun Belt last year, but developed into a first-team all-Big Ten performer as he led the Hoosiers with 108 tackles. That included a season-high 14 against Michigan.
CB D’Angelo Ponds
Yet another defensive stud who made the journey from James Madison to Indiana. Opponents rarely threw in this 5-foot-9, 170-pound sophomore’s direction. Ponds earned first-team all-Big Ten honors as he paced the Hoosiers with nine passes defended. He picked off two passes Oct. 26 versus Washington, including a 67-yard Pick Six that got the Hoosiers off to a great start.
DE Mikail Kamara
Stop us if you’ve read this before: A transfer from James Madison becomes a first-team all-Big Ten honoree during his first year in Bloomington. Kamara isn’t one of those classically built long and lanky pass rushers at 6-foot-1 and 265, but he’s got all the burst and flexibility and technique you want. He posted 10 sacks during the regular season – the same as Penn State’s all-world Abdul Carter – and 15 TFLs.
RB Justice Ellison
Here’s a slight twist on the theme: Ellison is a fifth-year senior transfer, but he came to Indiana from Wake Forest, where he stacked up 1,901 rushing yards with 15 TDs over four years. Ellison is half of the Hoosiers’ running back tandem – he shares snaps with Ty Son Lawton – but Ellison has been slightly more productive. He averaged 5.5 yards per carry while posting a team-high 811 rushing yards with 10 TDs. He’s also a threat to catch out of the backfield.
–Field Level Media