The Indiana Hoosiers made history on Saturday. The Hoosiers got their first road victory over a Top-5 team, defeating the #3-ranked Oregon Ducks in Eugene. This was made possible by a stout Indiana defense who stepped up big in the 4th quarter, dominating a powerful Oregon offense in a hostile Big 10 road environment.
The Hoosiers set the tone on the very first play from scrimmage, as Mario Landino sacked Oregon QB Dante Moore for a loss of 7 yards. This would be the first of the Hoosiers’ six sacks on Moore, an impressive feat against an Oregon line that had only allowed one sack and had the #1 rated pass-blocking grade heading into Saturday.
The IU defense continued to attack the ball during that first drive as Hosea Wheeler stuffed Ducks’ running back Jordon Davison on 4th down, giving the Hoosiers the ball in positive territory and leading to a field goal.
After the Oregon offense sprang to life towards the end of the first half, putting up 10 points, a missed field goal by the Ducks ended an 11-play, 71-yard drive without points, giving the Hoosiers defense a spark heading into halftime.
The Indiana defense built upon their success in the second half, holding the Ducks to just 3 points and 49 total yards in the third quarter. “I thought our defense really took it to them in the second half. Run game and pass game [and] put pressure on the quarterback.” Coach Cignetti said after the game.
It was the IU defense’s gritty performance in the fourth quarter that really sealed the win. After a pick-six by Oregon tied the game and stole all momentum, it was up to the Indiana defense to ensure that those would be the last points they scored in the game. A go-ahead Indiana touchdown put the pressure back on the IU defense, who quickly answered the call. First, Mario Landino and Aiden Fisher sacked Dante Moore for a loss of 4 yards. On the very next play, Lou Moore picked off Dante Moore, giving the Hoosiers the ball in Oregon territory, which they quickly turned into 3 points.
Down two scores with 2:06 left on the clock, Oregon was in need of a miracle to pull off the comeback. That door was quickly slammed closed, as on the first play of the ensuing drive, linebacker Isaiah Jones jumped the route and picked off Dante Moore, sealing the victory.
Speaking about the defensive dominance in the second half, Aiden Fisher said, “Just the confidence we have right now, it’s hard to describe. It’s just complete buy-in from each other. We all trust each other to do our job. We feed off of each other. Everybody is so confident and playing well off each other.”
While this was perhaps the biggest victory in program history for IU, the Hoosiers are not going to rest on their laurels. After enjoying tonight, Indiana will have their sights set on the Battle for the Brass Spittoon against Michigan State next weekend.