Indiana maintained its perfect record with a 31-7 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday.
The Hoosiers’ 11-0 record is the best start in school history, and quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s four touchdown passes helped him set a single-season mark. His 30 TDs moved him ahead of Kellen Lewis, who had 28 in 2007.
The junior’s efficient showing will boost his Heisman Trophy campaign as well. He was 22-of-24 for 299 yards.
Indiana was clinging to a three-point lead at halftime. A week after the nail-biter with Penn State, fans in Bloomington might’ve been feeling a little anxious.
The Hoosiers opened the third quarter with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that ended in a two-yard pass from Mendoza to tight end Holden Staes. Later in the quarter, a fumble by Wisconsin quarterback Carter Smith set up the IU offense deep into Badgers territory, and Mendoza wasted no time in finding another tight end, Riley Nowakowski, for a 21-yard score.
The Hoosiers cruised from there.
Not surprisingly, head coach Curt Cignetti spoke matter-of-factly about his team’s 11-0 mark. His postgame celebrations were pretty muted as he has his eyes on bigger things down the road.
Indiana has a week off before it takes on Purdue on Nov. 28 to determine who gets to take possession of the Old Oaken Bucket for the next year.
The Hoosiers blew the Boilermakers out 66-0 in 2024, so some residual anger from that beatdown might remain. Spoiling its rival’s unblemished record is also the only thing Purdue (2-8) has to play for at this point.
Indiana will be the heavy favorite on Thanksgiving weekend but shouldn’t take the Boilermakers lightly.
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