IOWA CITY, Iowa – Indiana football finally has a road win in a truly hostile environment. It was anything but pretty: Questionable playcalling, sloppy execution and, at times, flat-out gross football. But great teams find ways to escape when they aren’t at their best, and that’s exactly what the 11th-ranked Hoosiers did in their 20-15 win at Iowa on Saturday.
An Amare Ferrell interception and two-play touchdown drive had Indiana off to the races early on, but the visitors couldn’t sustain their early momentum. Iowa’s defensive front manhandled Indiana’s offensive line and the Hoosiers’ offensive scheme was oddly predictable. They were on upset alert.
With the game tied at 13 points apiece in the final four minutes, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was pressured for the umpteenth time and forced a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Iowa’s Zach Lutmer. It looked like Indiana had finally met its match.
Holding strong as it did for most of the game, Indiana’s defense forced Iowa to settle for a field goal attempt. The seemingly sure-footed Drew Stevens, who drilled a pair of field goals to keep the Hawkeyes level with the Hoosiers, pulled a 42-yarder wide left and gave Indiana one final chance. The Hoosiers had already whiffed on a number of chances to grab the game by the horns, but they had new life.
A solid pitch and catch from Mendoza to wide receiver Elijah Sarratt kickstarted Indiana’s drive, but the Hoosiers quickly found themselves in trouble after Mendoza faced pressure and missed on back-to-back throws.
To that point Indiana was a paltry 5-for-14 on third downs, and it faced a third-and-long from midfield with a capacity crowd of Hawkeye faithful screaming at the top of its lungs. Searching for their first win at Kinnick Stadium since 2007, the Hoosiers went to their most reliable combination. Mendoza connected with Sarratt on a slant and, after making his defender miss, Sarratt had nothing but free real estate in front of him.
“Waffle House” capped a six-reception, 139-yard afternoon with the biggest play of the evening: The game-winning touchdown.
“I was hype,” Sarratt said. “I was ready to yell while I was running.”
Linebacker Aiden Fisher has seen that a few times before.
“There’s not a lot that surprises me anymore,” Fisher said of Sarratt. Both James Madison transfers are in their second season at Indiana and have established themselves as program staples in Bloomington.
Saturday marked a new chapter in Curt Cignetti’s tenure at Indiana. His first five road games were either decisive wins (UCLA, Northwestern, Michigan State) or difficult losses (Ohio State, Notre Dame). He didn’t have a gritty win in one of college football’s most notorious road environments — something to truly show that he can coach on the biggest of stages.
He does now.
“There was a lot of good, bad and ugly,” Cignetti said postgame. “I give Iowa a lot of credit.”
While Mendoza looked shaky at times, especially when pressured, he found a way to get the ball into Sarratt’s hands and win the game.
“At the end of the day,” Cignetti said, “he passed the test because he made the key play.”
Part of the growth process for any upstart program is learning how to deal with adversity. Indiana took its lumps in Columbus and South Bend last season, but its gutsy win at Iowa marks a turning point.
“This win shows, shit, never daunted,” Indiana offensive lineman Pat Coogan said. “We’re not even close to the peak of our ability, and we’re 5-0.”
One of the biggest knocks on Indiana entering Saturday was that it hadn’t truly been tested. Through four weeks, it had four blowout home wins on its resume. Now, the Hoosiers can say that they’ve faced adversity and risen to the occasion like great teams do.
“We made the play when we needed to,” Cignetti said. “It was a gut-check game.”
Indiana showed that it can rally together and lean on its most talented players to make game-changing plays in crunch time. After a bye week comes another difficult road game at Oregon. Autzen Stadium will undoubtedly be loud, but Indiana is battle-tested. The Hoosiers should be up to the challenge.
