Indiana football moved up one spot to No. 22 in The Associated Press’ Top 25 Poll after its 56-9 victory over Kennesaw State University on Sept. 6.
The Hoosiers began the season at No. 20 before dropping to No. 23 after defeating Old Dominion University by just 13 points Aug. 30.
After starting the contest against the Owls with a three-and-out, the Cream and Crimson scored touchdowns on back-to-back drives. The Hoosiers then added another touchdown in the second quarter to take a 21-6 halftime lead.
In the second half, Indiana’s offense, led by redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza, scored touchdowns on five consecutive possessions. Mendoza finished 18 for 25 for 245 yards passing and four touchdowns.
Five other Big Ten schools joined the Hoosiers in the poll. Ohio State and Penn State remained at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. Oregon and Illinois both jumped two spots with the former sitting at No. 4 and the latter at No. 9.
With its 24-13 loss to the University of Oklahoma on Sept. 6, Michigan fell eight spots to No. 23.
Like last week, Southern Cal and Nebraska each received votes in the poll with 64 and 10, respectively.
Indiana (2-0) will close its nonconference schedule against Indiana State University at 6:30 p.m. Friday inside Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
