The Reactionary Take: IUFB vs Ohio State

The Indiana Hoosiers celebrate following the Big Ten Conference championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 6, 2025. Ohio State lost 13-10. Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has led the greatest turnaround of a program/team/organization in the history of professional sports. I dare you to fine me another, better turnaround than most losses in the sport to the unanimous #1 team in the nation in two seasons...you won't, but try if you must. When the clock struck 0:00 in Indy on Saturday night, lowly old IU won their first B1G title since 1967 and first outright title since 1945. Think about that! It's the greatest coaching job ever. Period. I also watch a lot of college football and this game between IU and OSU was a war. Both teams have athletes all over the field. Both teams have elite QB's. Both teams have first round draft picks. And both teams put on a defensive battle. I feel like Jack Black in the movie Orange County when sitting down to write this with all these ideas burning through my skull. How can I write about this in a rational way? You can't be rational about your team doing something completely historic...But I'm going to try. Oh, and IU is headed back to Pasadena for the grand daddy of them all...The Rose Bowl. via Yahoo! IU Reactionary Prediction: IU 24-23 (O/U was 48.5 at the time of posting, so I'm taking a win) Final Score: IU 13-10 — IU COVERS / UNDER 45.5 Season Betting Record: 14-10 I think I've found something here...I'm back to a healthy four games over .500 making picks against the spread and the over/under and 4-0 in the two games that mattered the most (OSU and PU). What a game...what a win. I usually take this section to do a mini recap and give some macro thoughts and I'm going to do that but wanted to point out that I had so many college friends at the game and have never been more jealous than when I got a video of one of my best friends, a 6'5, 275lbs teddy bear yelling "Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoosiers" with his shirt off at Lucas Oil. The FOMO I had was real but I was also living vicariously through the texts and tweets from people in the stadium. My wife had a big event and was gone all day so I was playing with my 3 year old son (who obviously didn't finish the game) but was just as into it as me. He had his iPad and headset on after dinner and, when the game had started, I was catching him with his eyes glued to the TV rather than his iPad (that's my boy!) which also had me a little emotional. He also wanted to play "tackle" all day Sunday and both of us we're somehow IU...but hey, fine by me. I may have had a few too many libations and talked some trash on Twitter but when the QB Julian Sayin hail mary was caught by WR Jeremiah Smith and he was tackled, I almost woke up my entire Chicago neighborhood. I scared my wife and cat...just like the good old days when I was doing that when IU beat Nebraska on the road during the Allen era. I wrote this in my Reactionary Preview: "IU allowed just one offensive TD to one of the most explosive offenses in FBS on the road at Oregon. They have allowed more than 14 defensive points just twice in 12 games (QB Fernando Mendoza had a pick 6 against Oregon to give them 20 points). The first was the two runs by Colton Joseph and ODU and the other was when they took their foot off the gas at PSU when up 20-7 late in the third quarter. That’s it. And OSU hasn’t played any defense like this IU one so far." IU allowed just 10 total points in this game and zero...ZERO POINTS...in the second half. Both of these teams had major problems scoring touchdowns in the red zone and once each team got in there, both defenses essentially said, "nah, not happening". (I'm going to use some charts like I always do from Game on Paper...I highly recommend their site if you're into that stuff). via gameonpaper.com This was a heavyweight battle and IU made the plays it had to and OSU didn't. I know that's an insane oversimplification but that is really how close it was. And having rewatched it now, I'm not sure people realize how good IU's defense was on Saturday. They hounded QB Julian Sayin and RB Bo Jackson to an elite 21% havoc rate. IU's DL and LB's were confusing the young QB as soon to be Broyles award winner (best assistant coach) showed him one thing pre snap, and rotated back around after. A quick aside, I was very impressed with Jackson as a true freshman. He seemed to always fall forward and while he only forced one missed tackle, he had 56 of his 87 yards after contact. He's got pretty good short area burst but when you add that to 6'0, 217 frame and the power he possesses, look out in the future. Anyway, IU ended up with 5 sacks on the day against an OL that had give up just 6 *all season*. As I said in my preview, the place to pressure OSU was on the right side of that OL and I feel vindicated because RG Tegra Tshabola and RT Phillip Daniels combined to give up 5 pressures or 38% of the total pressures. IU ended up with 13 pressures and 26 stops (tackles that constitute a "failure" for the offense) and just a 2% explosive play rate (3rd percentile). OSU could move the ball but nothing was easy or explosive. They had a big throw on a gamble by All American CB D'Angelo Ponds that led to a big Jeremiah Smith catch and run but that was about it (I'm also deducting the hail mary, 46 yard pass by from Sayin to Smith at the end of the game as it didn't matter at all and was essentially garbage time). IU was content keeping people in front of them while letting their elite front seven go to work. I will get to QB Fernando Mendoza later as I think he showed the moxie he's shown all year to all but lock up the Heisman Trophy. But it was IU's vaunted defense we're just as important in this game and really took it to the most efficient offense in college football. One of the other big keys for me is that both of these teams dominate in time of possession because of how efficient they are on both sides of the ball. I figured if either team got to 33:00+ in that category, they would win the game by multiple scores...but OSU held the ball for just :26 more seconds than IU did. That had to be that way for IU to win and it was. Sayin was still his very accurate self. Sayin finished 21/29 (72%) for 258 yards (counting the 46 yard hail mary) with 1 TD and 1 INT. That INT by soon to be All American S Louis Moore was sort of a microcosm for how IU wanted to play Sayin. DC Bryant Haines had Sayin confused all night in the passing game. The redshirt freshman Sayin thought he had an easy completion with Moore being in a two high shell but as soon as the ball was snapped, Moore didn't drop back to the typical Cover 2 spot for a safety and instead diagnosed the play and sprinted at WR Brandon Inniss on his 10 yard curl route and beat him to spot for the INT. Offensively, I was nervous about IU's run game against this elite run defense, specifically their guys up the middle. I posited in my preview that IU was going to have to run at the edges to have success (and I don't want to toot my own horn...but toot, toot!) and that's essentially where IU was able to get some yards, on counters to the edge and running behind the TE to the short side of the field. I thought both RB's Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black played their tails off. They took some vicious hits but they also had some holes to run through, especially toward the tackles as RT Kahlil Benson, LG Drew Evans and LT Carter Smith graded out as the best run blockers for IU. Outside of Drew Evans being such an integral part of the OL, one of the most interesting things that happened for IU on offense that was a bit subtle changes made to the OL that both worked brilliantly. I'm not sure if Kahlil Benson is still injured but RT Zen Michalski got the start and had major issues from the jump with OSU DE Caden Curry as Curry nearly killed Fernando Mendoza with what was a legal, but, in my opinion, flaggable hit to the chest, on the first play of the game. Benson replaced Michalski after giving up two sacks and redshirt freshman OG Adedamola Ajani replaced RG Bray Lynch after a bad holding penalty. Both Benson and Ajani we're very good the rest of the game. They led IU OL in pass blocking grade by PFF. IU typically never rotates lineman and this wasn't a rotation...this was guys not cutting it and being replaced. Lynch will be fine. I think he's also having issues with the RT spot being either ineffective (Zen) or injured (Benson) and might be trying a bit too hard. Big picture, IU heads as the #1 seed to the Rose Bowl game on New Years Day and will take on the winner of Alabama @ Oklahoma. I think these are both good matchups for IU as Alabama may have peaked early and Oklahoma, despite having an elite defense, has had major issues on offense since QB John Mateer came back from injury. Hell, in the game they beat Alabama in earlier this year, Alabama nearly doubled them up in scrimmage yards and had no business losing the game. But this is for when we know who IU's playing. On to the shout outs... The Linebackers via gameonpaper.com IU has the best LB corps in the country. I knew some people will talk about OSU or Texas Tech but LB's Aidan Fisher, Isaiah Jones and Rolijah Hardy put on a clinic in this game. Their play helped contribute to an elite 21% havoc rate and 48% stop rate. The three combined for 22 tackles, 3.5 TFL's, 3 sacks, 4 pressures and 10 stops (!!). And the craziest part was that Fisher wasn't the guy leading in any category. When you have an All American, NFL type MLB who can play third fiddle, you know you're doing something right. Hardy had the best game of his IU career by PFF (89.2 defensive grade by PFF). The former 0-star recruit was everywhere and it wasn't just in run defense. We know he's a wizard at stopping the run but he was also very good in the passing game, a spot I highlighted as a major issue for IU with how good OSU TE Max Klare has been and how tough it had been for IU to cover good TE's in their zone scheme...not Saturday, however. Despite allowing 3 of 4 targets to be caught, they went for just 9 yards and as soon as Hardy hit you, you weren't going anywhere...PFF had him for a very good 80.2 coverage grade and he missed zero tackles despite leading IU with 10 total tackles on the day. Jones was just as good. His signature play came on a blitz from Sayin's left from LB depth around the edge and chased down Sayin for a huge sack in the red zone. I cannot believe it took this long for Jones to get on the field but he's going to be one of the leaders of this defense next season. He did struggle a bit in the passing game but the ability for IU to play in their base defense with three LB's on the field is really what makes this entire defense so effective. Indiana, as a team, had three total missed tackles in 57 defensive snaps. Just elite tackling. Charlie Becker WR Omar Cooper was hobbled on the first drive of the game (seems like he should be good for the Rose Bowl based on comments by Cignetti but you never know) and didn't play another snap. Enter Charlie B (as Gus Johnson refers to him as). Becker, once again, made contested catch after contested catch. He's now 8 for his last 8 on contested catches in his last four games. He finished 2nd on the team in PFF grade behind Mendoza and that grade matched the eye test. He caught 6 of 7 targets for 126 yards with all 6 going for 1st downs. Oh yeah, and he had the game sealing catch on a 3rd down with a 33 yard catch after beating OSU CB Jermaine Matthews down the right side with a brilliant throw from Fernando Mendoza. Becker uses his 6'4 frame so well to box people out of catches and then pins the ball (and sometimes defenders hands) to his chest to make sure he secures it to the ground. With the losses next year of EJ Williams, Elijah Sarratt, Jonathan Brady and (probably) Omar Cooper, Becker should slot in as IU's new WR1 in his junior year...but he's not done in '25. Louis Moore There isn't much more to say about Louis Moore. He's a warrior that had to fight the NCAA while also competing at an elite level and having to go to class (they are students after all). The kid came back to IU after sitting behind other guys at Ole Miss and did what anyone who watched him closely in Tom Allen's defense thought would be possible and why Ole Miss paid him a bunch of money to play for them. As I mentioned above, Moore got his 6th INT of the season by brilliantly baiting Sayin into a bad throw and used his speed to beat a very good receiver to the ball. He's done that all season on all types of passes. Deep shots, screens, 10 yard curls. The kid is a monster in the defensive backfield. Moore finished with 6 tackles, .5 TFL, 2 Stops and 0/1 when targeted with that INT. Fernando Mendoza He was the B1G title game MVP and he's about to be your Heisman trophy winner... I know it took some time for me to get to him specifically but, like Louis Moore, there just isn't much to say about elite players doing elite things on the biggest of stages and that is what Fernando Mendoza is. This was Mendoza's best performance for me. The moxie he showed after getting plastered on the first play was amazing. He finished 15/23 (65%) for 222 yards (9.7 ypa) with 1 TD and an INT that simply was not his fault. PFF had him for a team high 92.3 PFF overall grade, the highest of his career to go along with 3 big time throws and zero turnover worthy plays. 11 of his 15 completions (73%) went for 1st downs. His two deep shots to Charlie Becker were incredible. Both were dropped right into his chest. The other amazing thing was that he was really solid under pressure. PFF had him for an 84.3 grade under pressure. He was under pressure on 46% of his drop backs and he was 5/9 for 55 yards (6.1 ypa) with all 4 incompletions being throwaways. He's just so smart with the ball and never really puts it in harms way. Mendoza led the nation in passing TD's (33), will go over 3000 yards at the Rose Bowl, and, oh yeah, ran 56 times for 327 yards (5.8 ypc) and 6 TD's when adjusting for sack yardage and the dumb -49 yards he had against Iowa when he ran for a safety. I just don't really see the argument for him not being the best player, on the best team and that's who gets the Heisman. I'm so happy I got to write about this kid and I hope he goes to the right situation at the next level because it would be a shame if a team like the Jets ruined him. He's already a terrific ambassador for the program and will be for years to come. Reactionary IUFB Quick Hits CB Jamari Sharpe played on 30 passing down snaps and wasn't targeted once IU missed 3 total tackles on the game IU has been the #1 graded team by PFF for for nearly the entire season IU finished first in offensive grade and second in defensive grade by PFF Roman Hemby finished with a 74.7 pass blocking grade IU is the only undefeated FBS team at 13-0 IU finished #1 in the nation in turnover margin at +17

The Reactionary Take: IUFB vs Ohio State

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