It’s difficult to put into words just how much these past two years have meant to the town of Bloomington, but I am going to try.
Put into a box by the national media as a “basketball school,” football was seen as an afterthought. “Besides,” those around the country wondered, “who would care about football when you are a fan of the losingest P4 school in history?” Obviously, this was not the case. Hoosier Huddle’s own existence proves that to be untrue. Those around the state and especially in Bloomington care deeply about this football program. They screamed at their TVs that “The kick was good!” ten years ago when the refs decided to forget the rules and screw Indiana out of a chance to beat Duke in 2OT in the Pinstripe Bowl.
It seemed to be a cruel joke then that one of the best seasons in Hoosier football history occurred in 2020, during the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, when fans weren’t allowed in the stands. Rather, it was cardboard cutouts of Indiana’s biggest fans who were in the stands as Michael Penix extended to the pylon to upset #8 Penn State in overtime.
The success of that 6-2 2020 season was short-lived, however, as the next year the Hoosiers finished 2-10. The national media wrote Indiana’s success off as a fluke, a down year for the Big 10 that allowed, *gasp* basketball schools to have successful football seasons. The die-hard Indiana football fans knew that the 2020 season laid the groundwork; they knew that one day, the team’s football fortunes would turn around, even if it meant saying, “There’s always next year” for a couple more seasons.
Then, on November 30th, 2023, everything changed. Indiana hired a proven winner, JMU’s Curt Cignetti, as its next head coach. True to his nature, Coach Cig did not hold back any punches when speaking to the media in his first Big Ten Media Day, “I win, Google Me.”
True to his word, Coach Cig did win. And win, and win, and win. Halfway through the season, the Hoosiers were undefeated, and the national media began to take notice. College Gameday came, as did Big Noon Kickoff and Big Ten Tailgate. The culture change in Bloomington was in full effect; everywhere you went, people were wearing Cignetti and “Study Later” shirts. Homefield quickly had to keep changing their #9WINDIANA shirt. A hashtag that had once seemed like a pipe dream became #10WINDIANA and #11WINDIANA. Following a 66-0 rout over Purdue, the Hoosiers found themselves in uncharted waters: the College Football Playoff. A 27-17 loss to Notre Dame dashed Indiana’s championship hopes and quickly brought back the specter of the “Basketball School” argument back to the forefront. National pundits seemed to conveniently ignore the fact that it was the closest of all the first-round games.
Heading into the 2025 season, Cignetti and Indiana had a chip on their shoulder, determined to prove that the success of 2024 was not a fluke. The Hoosiers had had some success in the past, but sustaining it had been the problem. Behind the arm of Cal Transfer Fernando Mendoza, the Hoosiers did more than just sustain their success; they surpassed it. Indiana was blowing out teams to the point where the national media, always so quick to discredit the Hoosiers, argued that they hadn’t actually played anyone.
The Hoosiers didn’t listen, however, and continued to win. They beat a talented Oregon team by 10 points to end the Ducks’ 18-game home winning streak. Mendoza continued to put together impressive numbers and lead game-winning drive after game-winning drive.
Then came the Big Ten Championship game. The Hoosiers faced off against defending national champs Ohio State in Indianapolis for a chance to win their first outright conference title since the 1940s. No one in the national media gave Indiana a chance to win. The talking points in the pregame were all about how many spots the Hoosiers would fall when they lost, not if. No one plays better with a chip on their shoulder than Indiana, and they proved that against the #1 team in the nation. The Hoosiers beat the Buckeyes 13-10, to win a Big Ten Championship and clinch a berth in the Rose Bowl.
Fernando Mendoza’s performance in that game clinched his Heisman Trophy as well, making him the first Heisman winner in Indiana football history. In his acceptance speech he said, “[This trophy] belongs for the first time in Bloomington. Playing in front of Hoosier Nation is one of the greatest privileges of my life, and I’ll carry that forever.”
Now the Hoosiers will play in the Rose Bowl as the #1-ranked team in the country, for the first time ever. Don’t forget to take some time to stop and smell the roses Bloomington; you’ve earned it. Because the town of Bloomington has known something that the rest of the country did not, Indiana has always been a football school; they just needed something to cheer about.