Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks have turned Autzen Stadium into a fortress with 18 straight home wins and 23 straight regular season victories. Every fortress eventually falls and Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Hoosiers invaded Eugene and left with a massive 30-20 upset victory that improves Indiana to 6-0 (3-0). IU outgained the Ducks 326-267. Elijah Sarratt led the way with 121 receiving yards and the Ducks only had 81 yards rushing while averaging less than three yards per carry. The victory was IU’s first in school history over a top five opponent on the road (previously 0-46) and the Hoosiers will almost certainly climb into the top five nationally.
The Indiana Hoosiers won the toss and deferred to the second half, letting the Oregon Ducks take the ball first. Indiana’s defense wasted no time announcing their presence with Mario Landino sacking Dante Moore on the very first play from scrimmage. The Ducks recovered to get one first down but were stuffed by Tyrique Tucker and Isiah Jones on fourth and short. The Hoosiers had great field position, taking over at the Oregon 46-yard line. Elijah Sarratt caught a pass for 24 yards but Indiana was forced to settle for a 42-yard field goal that was nailed by Nico Radicic to open the scoring. The Ducks went three and out and the Hoosiers followed suit, setting Oregon up at the 48-yard line. On a third and short, Amare Ferrell lost sight of Malik Benson and Dante Moore floated it to the streaking wide receiver for a 44-yard touchdown to make it 7-3. The Indiana Hoosiers responded with an impressive 75-yard drive that featured both the run and the pass and was finished by a Roman Hemby touchdown run to give IU the 10-7 lead. Oregon took advantage of a holding penalty on Jamari Sharpe to sustain their drive and eventually connected on a 40-yard field goal from Atticus Sappington to tie the contest at 10.
IU appeared to have earned a first down thanks to pass interference by Oregon but the penalty was not called. Curt Cignetti was apoplectic on the sideline and the misfortune was compounded by a false start on fourth and one that forced the Hoosiers to punt. Indiana’s defense refused to fold as Isiah Jones sacked Dante Moore and the teams traded punts before Oregon surprisingly missed a 36-yard field goal with only 24 seconds remaining in the first half. Much like they did last weekend against Iowa, IU struck at the end of the first half as Roman Hemby gained 14 yards, Elijah Sarratt got a first down and they advanced 15 yards on a pass interference penalty that set up Brendan Franke for a 58-yard field goal to make it 13-10 at halftime.
Indiana began the second half with the ball but were quickly forced to punt. Oregon picked up a couple of first downs before a punt that pinned IU at the two-yard line and Indiana went three and out again. Oregon began the drive at the Indiana 38-yard line but IU’s defense stepped up and held the Ducks to a field goal that tied the game at 13. Indiana responded with another 75-yard drive as Oregon was called for two pass interference penalties and Roman Hemby pounded in his second rushing touchdown of the day to put Indiana ahead 20-13. Kellan Wyatt sacked Dante Moore and forced Oregon to punt and IU had the ball at the 14-yard line with a chance to go up two scores. On third down, Fernando Mendoza was leaning back and under pressure and his pass was short enough for Brandon Finney Jr. to cut the route and intercept the pass. He ran it back for a pick six touchdown to tie the game at 20 early in the fourth quarter. The Indiana Hoosiers refused to blink, taking the ball down the field for a 75-yard touchdown drive that ended on third and goal with a Mendoza back-shoulder touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt with 6:23 left. The defense turned the screws with a sack on first down and then a tipped pass by Stephen Daley fell into the hands of Louis Moore to give IU the ball in Oregon territory. Riley Nowakowski picked up a first down and Roman Hemby chipped in with another one to further drain the clock. Oregon had to burn all of their timeouts as the time dwindled to 2:06 as Nico Radicic put Indiana ahead 30-20. Isiah Jones ended the drama with an interception of Dante Moore to put the finishing touches on the Cream and Crimson’s victory.
The Indiana Hoosiers are now 6-0 (3-0) and there can be no doubt that Curt Cignetti has built a national title threat in Bloomington. Indiana returns home for what should be a raucous crowd as the Hoosiers host Michigan State next Saturday. Hoosier Huddle will have wall-to-wall coverage of this historic Indiana win.