Helped by a dominant 56-6 victory over UCLA on Saturday, Indiana football received 11 No. 1 votes in The Associated Press’ Top 25 Poll released Sunday –– five more than last week. However, the Hoosiers stayed at No. 2 in the rankings.
Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza orchestrated six touchdown drives for the Hoosiers on Saturday. The Miami native tossed three touchdown passes and added a rushing score before being pulled from the game at the end of the third quarter.
Two of Mendoza’s scores through the air found sixth-year redshirt senior wide receiver E.J. Williams Jr., who also led the team with five catches and 109 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, the Indiana defense held the Bruins to just a 1-11 third-down conversion rate, while forcing three turnovers.
Five Big Ten teams made the top 25 in the latest AP poll. Ohio State remains at No. 1 after a bye week, while USC vaulted back into the rankings to No. 23 during its bye week. Oregon stayed at No. 6 in the poll after its 21-7 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday.
Then-No. 23 Illinois dropped out of the rankings after a 42-25 loss to Washington over the weekend. Michigan jumped from No. 25 to No. 21 this week after its 31-20 win against Michigan State on Saturday.
After receiving an increase in No. 1 votes, Indiana looks to continue its surge toward the top spot in the rankings when it takes on Maryland. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Nov. 1 and the game will be televised on CBS.
Follow reporters Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
