One Thing Indiana Does Better Than Any Other College Football Team Has Led It to 14–0

The Hoosiers have been unbeatable because they are the most mistake-proof program in the country, mastering the fundamental tenets of football.

Indiana running back Kaelon Black secures the football while rushing against Alabama in the Rose Bowl. / Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the first quarter of the first game of the season, on Aug. 30, Indiana running back Lee Beebe Jr. fumbled the football. Old Dominion, the opponent that afternoon, recovered on its own 20-yard line. 

The Hoosiers have not lost a fumble since.

That was their 18th offensive snap of the season. Since then, they have logged 915 more offensive plays, returned 31 kicks, played 827 minutes and gone four months without another turnover of the fumble variety. According to the NCAA record book, Indiana is the first team in FBS history to play 14 games with only one lost fumble.

As America struggles to identify the secret sauce that has elevated Indiana from doormat to dominant overnight, this might be the main ingredient: Curt Cignetti’s team is the most mistake-proof program in the nation. If the first element of winning football is not to beat yourself, it helps explain why the Hoosiers are 14–0. Some additional numbers:

• The Hoosiers are tied for third nationally in fewest total turnovers with eight, trailing only Connecticut and Temple. Among the other 20 FBS teams that have played at least 14 games this season, all have committed at least 11 turnovers. The other three College Football Playoff semifinalists have 12 (Oregon), 13 (Miami) and 14 (Mississippi).
• They are second nationally in fewest penalty yards per game with 27.1, trailing only Army. Among CFP teams, Indiana’s 380 total penalty yards is 164 fewer than the next least penalized program, Ohio State.
• They have been flagged just twice for defensive pass interference, a ridiculous number for a team that has defended 415 opposing pass attempts.
• According to Pro Football Focus, Indiana receivers have dropped just six of Heisman Trophy–winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza’s 332 pass attempts. It’s not unheard of for teams to drop six passes in a single game.
• Indiana hasn’t had an errant snap this season, making Pat Coogan the most reliable center in the country.
• Some good luck is required to have a low number of lost fumbles, but Indiana has rarely even been at risk in that category. The Hoosiers have put the ball on the ground just four other times beyond the one they lost, none of them in the last four games.

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Ask Indiana players how they’re playing the most buttoned-up football in the country—and some of the most buttoned-up football in history—and the answers are banal.

On the lack of fumbles: 

“We put a huge emphasis on ball security,” says running back Roman Hemby. “We do ball security drills in practice. The running back coaches and players, we do a really good job of doing individual drills where we take care of the football. We make sure that we carry good ball security throughout practices.”

On the lack of drops: 

“I really just think the time we put in catching passes,” says receiver Elijah Sarratt. “We catch a lot during practice. Every day after practice I’m catching a hundred. All the other receivers are catching extra passes. It’s building up those reps throughout the season. When we get in those tight situations, it’s just like another day at work catching passes.”

That’s all well and good, but every team in the country does ball security drills and puts in extra time catching balls. Every coach preaches about avoiding turnovers. (“The ball is the program,” was a well-worn P.J. Fleck-ism dating back to his days at Western Michigan.) Every coach rails about limiting penalties.

But clearly, this is one more area of the game that Cignetti and his staff seem to do better than everyone else. And a veteran, mature group of players is adhering to what they’re taught better than everyone else. The sweating of every detail, the belief that good habits matter and bad habits kill dreams, must resonate on the practice fields in Bloomington, Ind., like nowhere else.

“I think confidence and belief come from when you’re prepared, totally prepared, and get the result you’re looking for,” Cignetti said. “You’ve got to have high standards, expectations, accountability throughout your entire organization. Got to have the right people on your staff and in the locker room. And you improve every single day.

“Like this week, it’ll be important that we can stack meetings, practices and days so that we’re totally prepared to play at 7:30 on Friday night, and then play the way we want them to play. And I think when guys prepare correctly, that’s their best chance to be successful. And when they become successful, they develop more confidence and belief, and it becomes sort of a snowball effect. And that’s the way it’s worked for us.”

Not the sexiest keys to victory, but daily excellence rarely is sexy. Just the results are.

Fact is, Cignetti’s previous FBS teams have been good in all these areas, too—just not as good as this one. 

The 2024 Hoosiers, who shocked the nation by going 11–2, were third nationally in turnover margin (plus-15), with only nine giveaways (also third nationally). They were 16th nationally in fewest penalties and 28th in fewest penalty yards. James Madison in 2023 was a +6 in turnover margin and 15th in fewest penalty yards. The ’22 Dukes were the sloppiest of Cignetti’s four FBS squads, with 20 turnovers (but still a +2 margin).

Cignetti bringing large numbers of both players and coaches from James Madison to Indiana undoubtedly helped with establishing the airtight brand of football at a place where gaffes were a feature, not a bug. Indiana had a -23 turnover margin from 2021 to ’23 and is a +33 in the two years since with Cig.

With a rebuild anchored on fundamental soundness, it follows that the Hoosiers are decidedly un-gimmicky under Cignetti. A man who exudes no nonsense coaches accordingly. They have not faked a kick this season. They have gone for it on fourth down just 16 times, tied for 122nd nationally. There have been no passes by anyone other than quarterbacks.

Even with the Heisman-winning quarterback, Indiana is hardly an aerial circus operation. The Hoosiers have attempted 30 passes in a game just four times, and the average attempts over the last four is 20.3. Mendoza threw a season-low 16 passes in the trampling of Alabama, with maximal results—his 250.2 pass efficiency rating was a Rose Bowl record.

Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza passes against the Crimson Tide in the first half of the Rose Bowl. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Hoosiers have run it 276 times on first down and thrown it 158. When you average 5.9 yards per carry on first down, that’s a winning formula—one that leads directly to a lot of manageable third downs. Not coincidentally, Indiana leads the nation in third-down conversion rate at 56.5%.

“The biggest part of our run game is being able to break down a defense’s will,” said offensive lineman Carter Smith. “I think we’ve done that many times this year.

“We stick to our preparation. All the things that we do in practice are going to translate out onto the game field. Making sure we keep that speed and physicality throughout practice is kind of our edge setter.”

For a season with fairy-tale characteristics, there is no apparent magic. No pixie dust. Cignetti noted after the Rose Bowl that the Indiana story “would make a hell of a movie,” but they will have to take some cinematic license to build in whimsy and serendipity. Mostly, this is a triumph built on granular detail.

This is a program that has mastered the fundamental tenets of football to a degree unmatched by its competition to date. Indiana has been unbeatable largely because it has refused to beat itself.

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