Kirk Ferentz is no stranger to Indiana football — or what Indiana football used to be.
The 27th-year Iowa head coach owns an 11-5 record against Indiana. But he’s yet to face the Curt Cignetti-led Hoosiers, which he deemed a “really good football team certainly worthy of its ranking.”
“Anybody that saw the game Saturday (vs. then-No. 9 Illinois on Sept. 20), you couldn't help but be impressed,” Ferentz said in a press conference Tuesday.
Ferentz is the all-time winningest football coach in Big Ten history with 207 wins. He’s also the won the most of any active coach in college football, seeing the landscape of the sport change dramatically in recent years with the addition of Name, Image and Likeness and the transfer portal.
Ferentz has seen coaches turn programs around. None to the level Cignetti has.
“I'd have to think long and hard if anybody has done it,” Ferentz said. “It's been very impressive."
Although the Hawkeyes didn’t play the Hoosiers in 2024, Ferentz remembers seeing Indiana on exchange tapes as he prepared his team to take on opponents who had faced the Hoosiers.
During Iowa’s first bye week last season, Ferentz was flipping through channels and saw Indiana playing against Maryland. The Hoosiers went on to win that contest by 14 points, but more impressive to Ferentz was the player in the No. 13 jersey.
It was receiver Elijah Sarratt — one of 13 transfers that followed Cignetti to Indiana from James Madison University.
Although just seven of those transfers remain on Indiana’s current roster, they helped build a foundation in Bloomington. Now, Indiana isn’t the feel-good surprise story of college football. It’s a highly-ranked squad — an “emerging superpower,” as Cignetti coined it in an interview on Big Noon Kickoff last November.
Cignetti and his staff brought in 23 transfers ahead of this season. Again, the Hoosiers’ returners and new players have meshed well. They’re winning, and big.
Ferentz said Indiana’s ability to make sweeping roster changes and still get the squad to play cohesive football is “really impressive.” It’s a product of good coaching and having a clear vision of what the program wants to be. So far, it’s working well for the Hoosiers, he said.
“From my vantage point I think they're a better football team this year,” Ferentz said. “They've upgraded even more with their personnel, done a good job with the transfer portal, and also developing the guys that they have on their roster.”
Indiana’s offense, led by redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza, is second in the country in total offense with 588.5 yards per game. The Hoosiers’ rushing attack, which is third in the country, gained at least 300 yards in all four games so far — the only team to do so.
The Cream and Crimson have the third-best scoring offense at 54.8 points per game and have gained the most first downs at 122. According to Pro Football Focus, the Hoosiers have the best offensive grade at 94.1.
Ferentz knows his defense, which Iowa has historically prided itself on, has a challenge on its hands.
“Where do you want to start? It's hard to find a weakness,” Ferentz said. “It really is. I'm not saying it's like playing Ohio State, but there's some similarities in my mind if you look at their offense.”
Ferentz singled out the Hoosiers’ “big” and “physical” offensive line, which has allowed only three sacks on Mendoza this season. The unit is also paving the way for the Hoosiers’ two “really good” running backs.
Indiana’s receiving corps, led by Sarratt, redshirt junior Omar Cooper Jr. and sixth-year senior E.J. Williams Jr., reminds Ferentz of Ohio State. He said the Hoosiers’ group is similar to the Buckeyes — a team you had to “pick your poison” against last season.
The Buckeyes’ 2024 receiving group included Emeka Egbuka, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. Egbuka now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while Smith and Tate returned for 2025.
But for receivers to make plays, they need a capable quarterback. Mendoza is more than that. He “might be the best quarterback in the country,” Ferentz said.
Although he doesn’t have a vote for the Heisman Trophy, Ferentz explained he’d vote for Mendoza — the current favorite — if he did.
“He gets the ball out extremely quick,” Ferentz said. “It's going to be tough to even get a hand on him, and he'll run it, but when he runs it, they have designed runs for him and then they also have — he'll flush it out, but he's looking down, he'll look to maybe a throw on the run, which is tough to defend.”
Ferentz said part of the reason the Hoosiers’ offense is putting up otherworldly statistics is because of their versatility. Mendoza can play “point guard,” as he said he did against Illinois, and distribute the ball to Indiana’s playmakers while the running backs have continuously racked up yards.
The Hoosiers also have the fifth-best defensive PFF grade at 92.6 and 11th-best special teams mark at 87.6. The Cream and Crimson notched seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss against the Fighting Illini, overwhelming Illinois’ offensive line.
Ferentz said sixth-year senior Mikail Kamara and redshirt junior Tyrique Tucker are “two of their best defensive linemen.” The two have combined for 16 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks.
Indiana is largely dominating in all three phases, and more than passed its first conference test of the season.
“They're playing at a high level right now,” Ferentz said. “Didn't look like they had a flaw the other night at all. A really strong performance. It's pretty much been that way all season long. Every game they've been in, they've been winning very decisively. Just extremely impressed.”
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.
