UNSCRIPTED: INDIANA UNIVERSITY is 10-0 this year! Wait.... in FOOTBALL?
Unscripted
By Keith Edmonds
FWIS Contributing Writer
After the November 9th win over DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPION MICHIGAN, The Indiana University Hoosiers are off to a 10-0 start (for the first time EVER!) and look like THE one team to beat in the B1G TEN. They are ranked #8 in the Top 25 latest polls and are one of the pleasant surprises in college football this year. That’s right I said...FOOTBALL!! In one of the most shocking developments in recent years, we are seeing IU which has traditionally been known as much as a “basketball” school as the Universities of Alabama or Georgia are known as a “football” schools is doing something that is quite remarkable right in front of our eyes! Led by 1st year Coach Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers are turning heads and really making things interesting in regard to which teams will qualify for the college play-offs later this fall. Now, I know you’re saying, “Coach Keith, calm down, they still have some big games coming up, so we’ll see how they do against the BIG BOYS” and to that I say, you’re right! But let’s be honest, how many of you had IU football undefeated after 9 games this year and nationally ranked #8 in the Top 25? I’ll wait...
Hmmmm... maybe we shouldn’t be surprised by what is happening down in Bloomington because when they hired Coach Cignetti last December one of his first statements was: "It's pretty simple, I win, Google me. Look, I'm super fired up about this opportunity to coach at this university, but we’ve won wherever we’ve been, and I've never taken a back seat to anybody and don't plan on starting now." Did he know what he was talking about!? This is the BIG TEN where you have powerhouse football programs like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and have added USC and #1 Oregon! How dare he come to this conference talking about being successful! Didn’t he know that Indiana University football is just “something to do” until basketball season starts?
Well, if you look at the coach’s résumé we shouldn’t be that surprised! Cignetti came from James Madison University where he compiled an overall record of 52-9 (five seasons) and led the Dukes through their transition from FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) to FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision). Prior to that, Cignetti averaged 8.8 wins per season at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a DII school, and then revived an Elon University program that hadn't finished above 500 in six years, to the FCS playoffs in back-to-back seasons. So that’s impressive enough for me, how about you? Need more proof you doubting Thomas’? How about this, Indiana had 3 consecutive blowouts (UCLA, Maryland, Northwestern) for the first time in school history and currently ranks 4th in the nation in scoring offense averaging 48 points per game. Also, they’re one of only two teams in the country that has yet to trail in a game this season, (Army being the other). Whew! That’s some impressive stuff! So how has Coach Cignetti done it you ask? He has loaded up his team with players from the transfer portal (similar to what Deon Sanders has done at Colorado) bringing several of his players with him from James Madison who brought in the “mentality to win” that has led to this drastic one-year turnaround as one of college football’s top stories. Regardless of how the Hoosiers’ fairytale season ends, they’ve already secured the most wins in program history. IU.
What’s even more impressive with all of the points that this team is scoring this year is the fact that they are so “stingy” on defense as evidenced by the fact that they have held 7 of their opponents to 14 points or less and haven’t given up more than 28 points to ANYONE! With a team that’s so balanced on both sides of the ball this IU team is giving themselves a great shot at being mentioned as one of the teams to be considered for the 12-team play-off in 7 weeks which the players say is “the furthest thing from their minds” The players have adopted the motto As cornerback D’Angelo Ponds said, “Whoever is the next team on our schedule that we can dominate, is all that we’re looking at. If the CFP happens then that’s fine but we just take it one game at a time and make winning our job.” Well, the WHOLE NATION is looking at you IU! Keep it rolling and let’s see what happens as you have some huge games coming up! Regardless of what happens at this point you have made the country take notice of Indiana University FOOTBALL for the first in an exceptionally long time, and that can’t be a bad thing...right? Next up is a Bye week then the HUGE game November 23rd vs Ohio State, before finishing with rival Purdue after Thanksgiving! Stay tuned....