PASADENA, Calif. – In the TV show “Suits” protagonist Harvey Specter says something along the lines about choices when your back is against the wall. Accept defeat or take whatever you’re given? Wrong. Fight back and strike back even harder. That’s what Indiana football does when they’re given a sticky situation.
In the 38-3 win over No. 9 Alabama in the Rose Bowl, they had to deal with multiple adversities to earn their newest spot in the Peach Bowl.
“Coach (Curt) Cignetti did a fantastic job of the trickle down effect,” quarterback Fernando Mendoza said postgame. “He really made sure there’s no complacency.”
The loss of defensive lineman Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt for the season; receivers Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. have missed time; Mike linebacker Aiden Fisher missed games; one to two inches of rain fell on a natural grass field; Kaelon Black went down for a drive. Every issue this season was resolved.
The latest issue being Daley, Indiana replaced him with Daniel Ndukwe. Ndukwe openly said, “practice has never been this long for me,” on Tuesday morning in response to how he’s had to adjust to the new role. Mario Landino has had a huge increase in reps as he and Mikail Kamara are now splitting edge rusher reps, while Ndukwe is heavily in the STUD position, which is a hybrid weakside linebacker and edge rusher.
Ndukwe and Landino combined for three tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass breakup. Ndukwe and Landino’s efforts on New Year’s Day are two of many examples of this Indiana team belting the odds while they’re against it. Even when practice has been the longest it's been for them.
Daley’s emergence occurred when Wyatt went down during the Michigan State game and was officially ruled out for the season. Daley ended up as the leader in tackles for loss among Power Four conference teams (19), and second in all of college football. Daley was a crucial piece to the defensive line, but his production was made up in the aggregate by Ndukwe and Landino because Indiana didn’t succumb to the losses.
“Taking it day by day, taking each day as the most important day, it all starts with [Cignetti] and he makes sure all of our eyes are focused forward,” center Pat Coogan said postgame. “I believe that’s why we see success on Saturdays.”
Elijah Sarratt went down during the Maryland game and didn’t come back until Purdue. During that time frame, Charlie B from Nashville, Tennessee let the world know who he is.
Becker posted 13 receptions for 278 yards and one touchdown in Sarratt’s three-game absence. When Omar Cooper Jr. went down in the Big Ten Championship, Becker hauled in six receptions for 126 yards and the game-sealing grab late in the fourth quarter. In the Rose Bowl, with Sarratt and Cooper Jr. on the field, Becker went for 51 yards and a touchdown on two receptions.
When linebacker Aiden Fisher went out early against UCLA and sat at Maryland, both Rolijah Hardy and Isaiah Jones stepped up. Jones called the defense and the two combined for 24 tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble in the two games of Fisher’s absence.
Kaelon Black went down for a drive on Thursday, and Mendoza threw a TD pass to Cooper Jr. to cap off the drive.
Lastly, over an inch of rain didn’t matter for the Indiana offense as Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza threw for 192 yards with three touchdowns on 14 of 16 passing while the offense rushed 50 times for 215 yards and two touchdowns.
All those instances are testaments to Cignetti and the Indiana coaching staff’s ability to build a team that doesn’t care about adversity. They go all in against the odds and haven’t lost yet. They’ve won and then some in the situations.
“We are efficient, that is how I would label us,” Cignetti said postgame. “They’re great team guys and really good leaders. They listen and they buy in.”
The recruiting of these high character and so-called low-level talent, if you go off stars, has worked tremendously for Cignetti. It’s why he wins — everywhere he goes, he builds a team.
Not only does he build a team, he learns from mistakes.
“The constant striving for improvement, I do try to live that way,” Cignetti said postgame. “Either you’re getting better or getting worse.”
Cignetti’s teams clearly only get better — 11-2 last season, 14-0 now, with a Big Ten Championship and a Rose Bowl trophy.
IU raised the Leishman Trophy on Thursday for Indiana’s first bowl win since 1991, a significant jump to start with the Rose Bowl, all while missing significant contributors. In the Cignetti system it doesn’t matter, just send another one of his men on the field and they’ll be great.
Now, the Hoosiers hope the only adversity they face the rest of the way is their opponents. The next one is No. 5 Oregon in Atlanta for the Peach Bowl on Friday, Jan. 9 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
