Indiana finishes undefeated season, clinches Big Ten Championship game berth
The regular season wrapped up on Friday and Indiana football capped off an undefeated season following a 56-3 win over Purdue.
This is the first undefeated season in program history. Indiana went 9-0-1 in 1945, but had one tie.
With their win, the Hoosiers clinch their first appearance in the Big Ten Championship.
Indiana finished with notable wins over No. 3 Oregon, No. 9 Illinois and Iowa this season. It knocked off Oregon in Autzen Stadium, which at that point held the nation’s longest winning streak. It defeated No. 9 Illinois 63-10.
Indiana won multiple Big Ten games by 50+ points this season (Illinois, UCLA, Purdue).
“The thing we ask our guys to do is play every play like it’s 0-0, game on the line and from beginning to end, regardless of the competitive circumstances,” Cignetti said earlier this year. “And I think they’ve bought into that message.”
Indiana also went into Happy Valley and took down Penn State for the first time in its program history.
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“I did get a little choked up there at the end just because I was so proud of our guys,” Cignetti said after the win. “Our backs were against the wall there, and boy, it wasn’t looking very good, and in that venue, 105,000 people, and Penn State was playing really well.”
The Hoosiers are led by Heisman Trophy frontrunner Fernando Mendoza and finish the regular season with the Big Ten’s top two leading receivers with 11 touchdowns each in Omar Cooper and Elijah Sarratt. Mendoza also has tied the program’s record with 38 touchdowns in a single-season.
Indiana now holds the nation’s longest home-winning streak and has gone back-to-back seasons of 10+ wins.
Indiana had zero seasons in program history of 10 wins before Curt Cignetti.
“Regardless of what happens here on out,” Cignetti said after the win over Purdue. “This team will be the first team in Indiana history to go 12-0.”
Indiana now waits to see its opponent for the Big Ten Championship next weekend in Indianapolis.
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