#indiana-hoosiers

#indiana-hoosiers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Kaelon Black had two touchdown runs and Fernando Mendoza and Roman Hemby each ran for scores as No. 2 Indiana beat rival Purdue 56-3 on Friday night, completing the first perfect regular season in school history and securing a Big Ten championship game berth. The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0, No. 2 CFP) also likely locked up a second straight College Football Playoff berth. They'll find out Saturday whether they'll play No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Oregon or No. 15 Michigan a week later for the conference title.

At the midpoint of the season, no team has made a bigger playoff statement than Indiana. They tried to reassert themselves with a historic 63-10 beatdown of Illinois, but the Illini aren't Ohio State or Oregon. And then the Hoosiers beat Oregon -- by double digits -- in Autzen Stadium, where the Ducks hadn't lost in 18 straight games. Indiana forced Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Dante Moore into two interceptions and sacked him six times.

Especially to those who questioned whether the 2024 Hoosiers belonged in the College Football Playoff, despite the dominance displayed for most of the season. "[The media] controls all that stuff, I just got to get them ready and then we all play our games and see what shakes out at the end of the year," Cignetti said diplomatically.