WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Hoisting the Old Oaken Bucket above his head, Aiden Fisher scanned the field to find head coach Curt Cignetti. The two found each other and shared a moment after the 56-3 win over Purdue.
“He loves this team, and with how good of a coach he is, he deserved to get his hands on that bucket first,” Fisher said.
Fisher then made his way toward the remaining fans along the guardrail, reaching out to share a piece of Friday’s history.
Indiana football is 12-0 and undefeated in the regular season. Both for the first time in program history.
Ross-Ade Stadium was filled with a sea of crimson from kickoff to the final seconds, and then long after. Fans who had waited years for a moment like this stayed to soak in every second. Fisher parading the bucket from Cignetti to teammates to fans during the 100th anniversary of the rivalry game created a scene that felt nothing short of euphoric.
The 20-degree temperatures didn’t stop anyone from cheering for the history being written that night.
“Regardless of what happens from here on out, this team will always be the first in Indiana history to go undefeated in the regular season,” Cignetti said.
When Cignetti was hired on Nov. 30, 2023, he said the process happened so fast he was simply just trying to figure out what to pack and bring to Bloomington. Not leaving time to think if he could ever get this program to go 12-0 as quick as he did.
This is Cignetti’s first undefeated season as a head coach. He was part of undefeated teams at Alabama in 2008 and 2009 as an assistant, and he had several one and two loss seasons as the head coach at James Madison and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. But none compare to what he has built at Indiana over the past two seasons.
“This is something that a lot of people probably thought couldn’t happen,” Cignetti said. “It just goes to show you, when you have a commitment and a plan and you have the right people in place, anything’s possible. So here we are, but there is more work to be done.”
Upon his hiring, Cignetti said he would take Indiana to the next Big Ten Championship. A milestone the program had never reached. It took an extra year, but the promise still holds true, as Indiana will now head to the title game on Dec. 6.
“We know we have something special with this team. We know we can take this thing pretty far,” Fisher said.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza expressed his gratitude after the game, proud to be part of a team accomplishing something like this.
“We’ve all worked our entire lives to get to this point,” Mendoza said.
The focus, he added, stays forward. Mendoza said the team will push even harder in preparation and training.
“This is such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity we have ahead of us,” Mendoza said. “We have a lot more that we feel like we can accomplish.”
For the first 24 hours, Indiana will celebrate the history it made.
Then it’s back to work. Channeling that energy into strengthening their play and chasing what comes next.
