'Just Another Game': Indiana Football Won't Make Historical Illinois Matchup Bigger Than It Is

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Kellan Wyatt nodded his head and absorbed the information, perhaps all at once understanding the history attached to No. 19 Indiana football's Saturday night game against No. 9 Illinois at Memorial Stadium.

No Hoosier squad ranked in the top 20 has ever hosted a top-10 opponent. Indiana has only been part of five top 20 matchups in program history, and none since 1987.

Somehow, somewhere, Wyatt's wires — with coach Curt Cignetti's mantras and phrases already baked into his mind after transferring to Indiana this summer — got crossed. Cignetti surely supports it.

Stakes of Saturday night's game mean little to Wyatt, a senior edge rusher who spent the past three years at Maryland and carries Big Ten wisdom in his casual, relaxed mannerisms.

"To me, it's just another game," Wyatt told reporters Tuesday. "I think the way we prepared throughout the week, it typically shows how we played through Saturday. But this is another game to me, and I don't really look at it as a big game. So, yeah, just another game."

Indiana, which had four sell-outs to close the 2024 season, will have its first max capacity crowd of 2025 on Saturday. Tickets sold out in July. The Hoosiers are planning a red-out theme inside Memorial Stadium.

But, again, status quo.

"I wouldn't say it's anything different," redshirt senior outside linebacker Mikail Kamara said Tuesday. "I just think it's the next game. We have plenty of opponents in the future, and I think this is just a big game because it's the next game. That's it."

Buried beneath the surface rests a treasure chest full of reasons illustrating why it's more than that.

Indiana owns the Saturday night slot on NBC. Kamara said playing at home, under the lights, in primetime, is "something you dream about as a kid." Games like this, he acknowledged, are partially why he chose to follow coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison University to Indiana in the winter of 2023.

Wyatt said he expects to get butterflies. The feeling resembles nervousness, but it's channeled in a positive light. Wyatt senses Indiana's roster, with a wealth of newcomers less experienced than he in big atmospheres, is eager to get on the turf and face Illinois.

After all, Wyatt and his teammates recognize the magnitude of Saturday's kickoff, which Wyatt expects will feel like a "big-time game."

"Games like this can really turn a program around," Wyatt said. "In games like this, when you get them early in the season, you got to take care of them."

Season-defining, butterfly-inducing and dream-fulfilling games don't come often. Neither do Indiana vs. Illinois meetings where both teams are ranked. The last — and only — time it happened was in 1950. Illinois coach Bret Bielema said he was shocked by the fact.

The Hoosiers and Fighting Illini are in similar positions. Cignetti said Illinois has a quality core of returning players who understand what it takes to be successful, much like Indiana, and he expects a competitive game between two good teams.

"They're fundamental," Cignetti said. "And you can see the coaching show up on tape."

Execution will be the deciding factor. Cignetti listed needing to win the line of scrimmage, winning the turnover ratio, hitting more explosive plays and being good in critical situations as important ingredients to the victory formula.

Those ingredients, and that formula, has never changed, Cignetti said. It's partially why the Hoosiers try to approach each game, no matter the caliber of opponent, in the same manner.

The results are visible through clean football, Wyatt said. It looks like defenders rallying to the ball and the offense scoring a lot of points.

And, by in large, it looks like Cignetti-branded football.

"Coach Cig puts a lot of pressure on us throughout the week," Wyatt said about keeping a steady mindset. "And when he stresses us out through practice, I think Saturdays are pretty easy for the most part."

Energy is another important piece. Indiana will enter Memorial Stadium knowing it has more than just the red jerseys standing on the sideline in its corner — the Hoosiers will have over 52,000 fans in the stands draped in red apparel urging them forward.

Wyatt said the big-game energy makes him play looser. Kamara agreed.

"It's different," Kamara said. "The noise, as a defensive player, it's almost deafening. It kind of makes you play faster. You've got all that noise going and it's like you're not really thinking. Especially as a defensive player, you play best when you're just moving fast.

"I think the noise really helps in our favor."

It's a stark contrast to Indiana's two games against top 10 opponents last season, where the Hoosiers fell 38-15 to Ohio State on Nov. 23 and 27-17 to Notre Dame on Dec. 20 in the College Football Playoff. Both were road games in boisterous environments. Indiana's offense in particular struggled with the noise at Ohio State.

But the Hoosiers have turned the page on last season. It's history, Cignetti said. He doesn't make comparisons because he's solely focused on the present. His players aren't worried about the past, either.

Kamara said he doesn't feel pressure to disprove any voices or talking heads outside the Hoosiers' building. If he sees it, he shrugs it off. He's steadfast on daily improvement from team, individual and mental standpoints.

During Big Ten Media Days in July, Kamara, known for manifestation, said he expected Indiana to compete for a national championship. Saturday night presents this season's first test to prove the Hoosiers can reach such heights.

"I think this opportunity is big to show what we're capable of," Kamara said. "It's a ranked opponent, and it's our first conference match. So, I just think we go in there, do our fundamentals, execute and we can come out with the win."

Wyatt said Indiana's preparation throughout the week has been "pretty good." He and his teammates are ready to hit the field and enjoy the feelings that accompany one of the biggest, on-paper, home games in school history.

But the Hoosiers are focused on ensuring Sunday is enjoyable, too. Kamara wants to dominate so he can savor the 24-hour rule — Cignetti allows players to celebrate wins for 24 hours after the game ends before moving onto their next opponent.

Through 16 games in Bloomington, Kamara has felt "victory Sunday" 14 times. To feel it again in Week 4 — and give the Hoosiers their first home win over a top-10 team since 2020 — requires nothing different.

"I think it's just doing what we do," Kamara said. "Sticking to fundamentals, don't try to get too cute. Playing physical, playing our motto: Fast, physical, relentless. Just doing what we know we can do, what we've done in the past, and what we've done all camp and just put it all on tape on a Saturday.

"That's supposed to be the most fun time. Throughout the week is the hardest. Saturdays should be the most fun time; just go out there and hoop."

Indiana's last top 10 home win was over Penn State, when Michael Penix Jr.'s full-extension lunge proved enough to vault the Hoosiers into national relevancy. The only fans there to enjoy it were family members.

That game aside, the last time Hoosier fans celebrated a home victory over a top-10 team came in 1967. Cignetti was 6 years old. None of his three coordinators — Mike Shanahan, Bryant Haines and Grant Cain — were born. Neither was Bielema.

Indiana smashed program records and accomplished an abundance of firsts last year. The Hoosiers are staring history in the face Saturday night. They plan on conquering it once more — behind the same mindset that's made "victory Sunday" more common than ever in Bloomington.

"I think we've just got to go out there and attack it like it's only a big game because it's the next game," Kamara said. "That's the mentality going into this one."