The Reactionary Take: #1 IUFB vs #5 Oregon – The Peach Bowl

Aiden Fisher and Elijah Sarratt celebrate winning the Peach Bowl against Oregon.Image: Jasper Owens, Hoosier Huddle Wow. That's all I can really say. This team just keeps doing things that I think are possible but also in the "not probable" category. IU's 56-22 dismantling of #5 Oregon on Friday night at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta was just another feather in the cap of this team, this staff and Indiana fans everywhere. If you're tallying at home, IU is 15-0, with a chance to be the first 16-0 team since the late 1800s, they won the Rose and Beach Bowl's and are one win away from their first national championship...ever. Pretty darn good for a team that won 9 games the previous three seasons before HC Curt Cignetti and his staff were brought in from James Madison. By now, you've read or listened or watched just about all you can consume on this game but I hope you'll check out my Reactionary take where I'll review my betting choices, give you a couple players or position groups I thought stood out and then give you some stats I found interesting. via Yahoo! IU Reactionary Prediction: IU 27-17 Final Score: IU 56-22 — IU COVERS -3 / OVER 48.5 Season Betting Record: 17-11 I'm giving myself the 2-0. I didn't actually bet the O/U because I didn't really have a terrific feel for where the total would end up. I thought it would be right around the mid 40s...While I was wrong, I was over the number it finished at. But, if you've read me before, I typically don't like betting on something like this every week after looking at where the bets and the money are. To me, the O/U was an easy stay away. The O/U moved from 48.5 early last week, all the way down to 41.5 at game time. I took 27-17 and IU, so, with that line movement, I'm taking that 2-0. And if you look at the stats, it doesn't look all that dissimilar other than the turnovers and points. But if you look under the surface, IU did what fans are so accustomed to watching them do: they choked out their opponent with efficiency. via GameOnPaper.com IU ran 59 offensive plays and scored 56 points. Their average starting field position was the 50 yard line and, despite being out-gained by Oregon, their defense created 13 havoc plays (20%), had a pick 6 on the first play of the game and generated 11 TFL's against Dan Lanning, Dante Moore and the Will Stein offense that came in being one of the best groups in the country. via GameOnPaper.com IU played well on both sides...Lots of green on the chart above for IU and not very much for Oregon. One thing I wanted to not in this "game summary" type part of the piece was that, outside of the pick 6 by D'Angelo Ponds on the first play, Oregon immediately went down the field on a long drive and score. I got a little nervous at that point but also realized that most of that was on the scripted plays by future Kentucky head coach and brilliant offensive mind Will Stein. IU hasn't been the best against scripted plays on defense but Oregon couldn't sustain it. DC Bryant Haines' crew is brilliant at problem solving. They do it in game all the time and this game was no different. They saw what Oregon was trying to do and adjusted their game plan accordingly. Oregon had a 71 yard run and a couple explosive pass plays, but that was all in catch up mode as IU used some brilliant play calling by OC Mike Shanahan, execellent execution on both sides of the ball to turn 3 Oregon turnovers into 21 points and were up 35-7 at the break...The game was essentially over. Oregon put up stats in a game that was over. I say this every week but my take away from this vintage of IU seems to always be that I'm just blown away at how efficient they are both sides of the ball. They may punt a couple times and give up a couple drives here or there, but they are relentless at making everything hard on an opponent. It's hard for me to break down a game that was essentially just over by halftime. IU dismantled Oregon and their fans in the stadium helped them do it. The crowd was so loud on TV that my group was having a hard time hearing the play by play call (which is honestly a good thing). In the player/position group superlative section, I typically like to try to find guys that are a bit under the radar but had great games, especially in a win...but two of these guys will be stars for IU that I can't go without mentioning. Daniel Ndukwe Everyone wondered how IU would fair in this rematch without injured DE's Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley. IU countered by moving Mikail Kamara over to the DE position and elevating true sophomore Daniel Ndukwe to a starting gig while still mixing in some three down lineman looks with their three elite LB's. Ndukwe, like IU players seem to do, came in and dominated. In his 47 snaps, he had 3 tackles, a team high 5 pressures, 2 TFL's, 2 sacks, 3 "Stops" (PFF stat - tackles that constitute a "failure" for the offense), allowed just one catch on two targets for just 5 yards in coverage...oh yeah, he also blocked another punt. The 6'3, 244lbs edge is just scratching the surface given his athletic profile. I still think he can add more really good weight and should easily be around 250-255lbs by the time '26 rolls around. He and DE transfer commit Tobi Osunsanmi (at nearly an identical size, listed at 6'3, 250) are going to be a very fun tandem to watch. But back to this game. It was imperative that he play well in this one if IU wanted to continue to run a similar style of defense that they'd been running and he blew my expectations out of the water. He'll need to continue that in the CFP national title game next monday but, after what he did to a very good Oregon OL, I'm excited to see what Ndukwe has in store for Miami QB Carson Beck. Indiana had 18 pressures on 44 of Dante Moore's drop backs (41% pressure rate). Ndukwe led the way with 5 but 8 players had at least one pressure on the run or pass and IU had 25 total on 70 snaps (35% pressure rate). Pat Coogan The IU center and OL leader won the Rose Bowl MVP but that was really an OL award. This was the best game I've watched from him. On my rewatch, he's hitting a guy and getting to the second level. He's out in space dropping would be tacklers. He's 20 yards downfield to recover a Fernando Mendoza fumble. Side note: I won't be talking in depth about Mendoza in this one but he was incredible again...I'll have some stats on him later in my IUFB Quick hits. Back to Coogan. Against a very good, tough iDL for Oregon featuring future pro A'Mauri Washington and his 6'3, 330lbs frame, Coogan cam away as IU's highest graded OL by PFF. His near elite 82.7 pass blocking grade was second to All American Carter Smith and he finished first in run blocking grade. His leadership also can't be really measured. He's always out there encouraging his guys, whether on the field or on the bench. Every time they show him, he's talking to his guys. Coogan and the guys up front allowed just 4 pressures on 24 drop backs (17% pressure rate) by Mendoza, all given up by Khalil Benson who struggled with the speed of Oregon on the edge. Elijah Sarratt Just one more game to write about both Coogan and Elijah Sarratt. IU had a bunch of players I could have picked from this game. Ponds, Charlie Becker, Kaelon Black and the list goes on. All had great games. But I thought the catches that Sarratt made were in massive spots and with corners draped all over him. Sarratt finished the Peach Bowl with a PFF overall grade of 83.7...which should have been higher. He caught all 7 or his targets and they went for 75 yards (10.7 ypc) and he added 2 TD's. He finished 3/3 on contested catches and 6/7 catches went for 1st downs. He also finished with a very good 3.13 yards per route run. To put that in perspective, 3.13 would be tied for 8th in the nation with Belitnikoff winner Makai Lemon from USC. Again, with the efficiency. Someone is going to get a steal at the next level. Sarratt isn't going to blow away the combine so he's likely to fall for that reason. But someone is going to get an elite contested catch guy, a precision route runner, a guy with elite hands and one of the best downfield blockers I've ever seen. So happy for him and for the fans that got to watch him for his two amazing years at IU. IUFB Quick Hits: Fernando Mendoza now has 8 TD's and 5 incompletions in the playoff against Alabama and Oregon. Mendoza is up to 41 passing TD's against just 6 INT's on the year...the narrative that he didn't produce big numbers is going away quickly. Kaelon Black marches toward 1000 yards with 63 on 12 carries (5.3 ypc) with a TD. He's now just 39 yards short, and finished with as IU's 2nd highest graded player behind Fernando Mendoza. Khobie Martin came in and performed #thecloser role, rushing 4 times for 42 yards (10.5 ypc)...He should be in the rotation in '26. Aidan Fisher was all over the place on defense, finishing with 9 tackles, 5 solo, 5 Stops, 1.5 TFL's and 2 pressures. One of my favorite IU players, EJ Williams, put a nasty double move on an Oregon CB for his lone catch for 13 yards and a TD. Happy for him and he's up to 36 catches for 438 yards and 6 TD's on the year. He'd be, at minimum, a solid #2 on nearly all teams True Freshman Tyrone Burrus, Jr. played 22 snaps in that game and they weren't garbage time snaps. Kamara went down for a time (precautionary) and Burrus stepped into that DE role. What a huge spot and massive amount of experience gained for Burrus even though he didn't record a counting stat.

The Reactionary Take: #1 IUFB vs #5 Oregon – The Peach Bowl

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