IOWA CITY, Iowa — Indiana finding a way to a gritty win with a 49-yard touchdown from Fernando Mendoza to Elijah Sarratt with 1:28 left in the game giving No.11 Indiana the 20-15 win over Iowa.
It was the closest game of the season for Indiana, which beat its first four opponents by an average of 46.5 points per game. Iowa wanted to make the Hoosiers play their way in a hostile Kinnick Stadium.
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said earlier in the week to the media that Iowa was a team you had to beat because they were not going to beat themselves. And after the game he repeated that message.
“That was a really hard fought ball game, I give Iowa a lot of credit they laid it on the line,” Cignetti said.
He continued by giving praise to his assistant coaches and players for making calls and plays in crucial moments when Indiana really needed it.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza was 13-for-23 for 233 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The biggest completion for Mendoza against Iowa's relentless defense was his pass to Sarratt, sealing the game for Indiana.
“When it's coming down to the wire, and I'm able to throw a game-winning touchdown to my guy, Elijah, that's what college football is all about,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza took a lot of pressure and punches on Saturday, as the Hawkeye defense sacked him twice and hurried him five times.
“Our whole entire team is never going to give up,” Mendoza said. “And so I'm going to take that hit for my team, 10 times out of 10.”
Indiana center Pat Coogan called Mendoza “a tough SOB” after the game.
While Mendoza's performance may have been far from perfect Saturday it was still enough to manage the game and ultimately pull through for the win.
“At the end of the day he passed the test because he made the key play,” Cignetti said.
Defensively Indiana was not as fully combative as they have been over the course of the season. There was a lot less flying around and more of a conservative approach from defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ play calling on Saturday. Notably, Indiana was without defensive back D’Angelo Ponds who was out due to an undisclosed injury sustained late in the week leading up.
However, going up against one of the highest graded offensive lines in college football was not an easy task. They struggled to get through at the line of scrimmage to Iowa's quarterback and to cover the Hawkeyes’ run game. Iowa rushed for 92 yards against Indiana while their receivers went for 192 yards. The numbers may not seem the highest but when Iowa got ahold of the ball and saw a window to run they took it in stride. And the Hoosiers seemed to really struggle with keeping up more times then not.
Indiana (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) now takes a break to rest with a bye in week six before turning attention to their next road trip and conference opponent No. 6 Oregon (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten).
