Some plays never get old, and this list is full of those moments. The Cignetti era in Bloomington has already delivered plenty of memorable, explosive highlights. Today, I’m ranking the top 10 jaw-dropping, crowd-popping, can’t-stop-rewatching plays from the first two chapters of the Cignetti era. Let’s take a look!
10. Charlie B Gets IU in the Endzone at the Rose Bowl
The first quarter of the Rose Bowl was a bit of a defensive battle, and we were five minutes into the second before anyone found the endzone. Then, on third down, Mendoza found Charlie B on a 21-yard strike over the middle to open up the scoring. From there, the floodgates were opened and the Hoosiers never really looked back.
9. Sarratt…Corner…Touchdown! Indiana!
There was just one Indiana touchdown in the Big Ten Championship, but it was a memorable one. Elijah Sarratt made tough, contested catches his entire career, but I think this one was especially memorable for him. In fact, he just posted a TikTok of it recently reminiscing on the special play.
8. Charlie B… From Nashville…Tennessee
3rd and six, game on the line, in the postseason stretch it was clear who Fernando’s favorite target was going to be… Charlie B, from Nashville, Tennessee, in a catch that essentially clinched the Big Ten Championship for the Hoosiers.
7. Shawn Asbury Picks off Raiola
Forever grateful for Nebraska fans helping us sell out Memorial Stadium… Anyways, here’s one of the loudest crowd pops of Cignetti’s first year in Bloomington, courtesy of Shawn Asbury’s interception that he returned 78 yards. Indiana has a football team now!
6. Kamara Blocked Punt
What a special two years it has been when a blocked punt in the national championship game can fall to the middle of the pack on this list. Kamara’s stats were down compared to the year prior, but his impact was certainly still felt.
5. Ponds Got in There in a Beat
‘This Year’s Indiana’, Illinois, fell just shy of defeating Indiana, a 63-10 final. D’Angelo Ponds, who is littered throughout the rest of this list, makes his first appearance in a very memorable punt block that he returned for a touchdown.
4. Roll Out the Big Red Carpet
Things were looking shaky early on against Washington with College Gameday in town and Kurtis Rourke sidelined with an injury, but Ponds stepped in to switch the momentum in a massive way.
3. Somebody Check on Gus Johnson
Touchdown! Wow! Omar Cooper, unbelievable! I still am unsure to this day how exactly he defied gravity and got his toe down. One of the most special plays of the season somehow lands at number three.
2. 4th and Mendoza
It’s hard to ever beat this play in any of these top ten lists, but I’m going to put it at number two this time. Nonetheless, it is still statue worthy in my mind.
1. Dierre Hill Jr is the Running Back…
I am not sure there will ever be a louder crowd pop than this one. It’s hard to beat a team twice, but it certainly is a bit easier when you can kick things off with an opening pick-six. Ponds rounds out the list with three of the top five, this one at the Peach Bowl.
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