A dominant victory was clear from the start. Indiana football was favored by nearly 50 points to earn its third victory of the season.
But Friday against Indiana State University, in the Hoosiers’ final tune-up ahead of Big Ten play, there was more for the Cream and Crimson to learn.
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said in the lead-up to the contest he wanted to see his team play a “clean” game. Although no performance is perfect, the Hoosiers dominated the Sycamores 73-0 on Friday inside Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
“We accomplished what we wanted to accomplish tonight, and the defense last week was kind of a point of emphasis for me, and I expected us to have a dominant performance, and we did,” Cignetti said. “We swarmed the ball.”
The Hoosiers put together a stout defensive performance. They allowed just 77 yards and five first downs while notching 16 tackles for loss and five sacks.
Indiana’s offense matched its defense. The unit scored 10 touchdowns as redshirt junior wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. had a program record-tying four. Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza had just one incompletion, throwing for 270 yards and five touchdowns along with a rushing touchdown.
While domination was likely, Cignetti said Wednesday that he told the team Monday they’d learn about their maturity level in the contest. Then, ahead of Friday’s game, he delivered another message to the coaching staff and players.
Mental intensity and urgency equal energy, he stressed. It’d need to come from the coaches, which the players would feed off. He wanted his squad to treat each play as if the game were on the line.
With 24 transfers on the squad, Cignetti said Wednesday there are people who need to learn how championship programs operate daily.
That includes taking the season a week at a time, which Mendoza said postgame he does, even though a showdown with No. 9 Illinois at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 looms. Senior defensive lineman Kellan Wyatt said the Hoosiers “didn’t look past this opponent at all.” Redshirt junior defensive lineman Tyrique Tucket echoed Wyatt.
“We attacked it the same way we attack every other week, trying to get better,” Tucker said. “And I feel like that alone has allowed us to keep the mentality the main thing, which is get better.”
Although the Hoosiers led by 21 points after the opening quarter and 45 at halftime, they didn’t want to let off. Cignetti emptied much of the bench as redshirt freshman quarterback Alberto Mendoza played a lot of the second half. Sixth-year senior quarterback Grant Wilson even saw action in the fourth quarter.
Friday was likely Alberto’s final opportunity to earn game repetitions, barring an unforeseen circumstance.
“It’s always great to see the conglomerate of the quarterback room getting in just because it’s so much work done within that position group and only usually one or two guys get to play,” Fernando Mendoza said. “So, it’s so great to see that success and all the preparation we have pay off.”
Even with the contest being out of hand before the starters were pulled and the backups were inserted, Tucker said the Hoosiers’ philosophy doesn’t allow for them to slow down until the game is over.
“When the clock zero-zero, then we can let up and celebrate the win and kind of rinse and repeat that every week,” Tucker said. “When the game is going on, you don’t really want to get too happy, you don’t want to get too high, you don’t want to get too low; you want to kind of stay in the middle.”
Cignetti doesn’t want his squad satisfied — or laughing — on the sideline during the game. Wyatt said the Hoosiers did “well” with that Friday as the defense notched a shutout.
Despite the utter domination, there were still aspects of Indiana’s performance Cignetti wasn’t entirely pleased with. Redshirt senior offensive lineman Zen Michalski started in place of sixth-year senior offensive lineman Khalil Benson, who started each of the first two games, at right tackle.
But it wasn’t because of performance.
“Benson was not available for the first half,” Cignetti said. “Violation of team rules and regulations.”
The Hoosiers also committed six penalties for 45 yards in the contest, while the Sycamores didn’t commit any.
“I wasn't real pleased with the penalties on special teams, the penalties on offense with the 1s,” Cignetti said. “The quarterback (Fernando Mendoza) was 19-of-20 for 270, but threw it out there a few times when he shouldn't have. But all in all, we took another big step forward, yeah.”
The Hoosiers now have an extra day of rest ahead of their primetime matchup with Illinois. The matchup will show the Hoosiers what they’re capable of this year, Cooper said.
But as the nonconference slate is now over, Indiana has improved each week and learned what it is. Its biggest test so far looms.
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.
