'Right Some Wrongs': Indiana Football Needed 2024 Loss to Ohio State. IU Wants Revenge

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — A Cinderella team. An underdog story. The most improbable of runs.

Indiana football heard it all during its magical run to the 2024 College Football Playoff, and the Hoosiers leaned into the identity on the biggest stages, under the bright lights, in 2024.

They may have overplayed their hand. Indiana made its most uncharacteristic mistakes and played, collectively, its worst games last season in losses to Ohio State and Notre Dame.

"I think we went in with too much of an underdog mentality," senior linebacker Aiden Fisher said Monday. "So, this year, every single big game we've been in, there's been no doubt at all. It's never crept in that, 'Oh man, we might lose this game.' That's never been a thought."

It hasn't been a reality yet, either. The No. 2 Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) capped their first unblemished regular season in program history with a 56-3 win over archival Purdue on Nov. 28.

They're battle-tested and have a resume that features six wins over bowl-eligible teams, three of whom have eight-plus wins. Indiana also has one of college football's best wins, a 30-20 road victory over Oregon on Oct. 11.

Now comes Indiana's biggest exam. The Hoosiers face No. 1 Ohio State (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) for the Big Ten championship at 8 p.m. Saturday inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. It marks Indiana's first conference title game appearance and a chance to be ranked No. 1 for the first time in program history.

But Saturday is also a chance for Indiana to re-take the test it flunked last season.

On Nov. 23, 2024, unbeaten and fifth-ranked Indiana faced one-loss and second-ranked Ohio State at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. The Hoosiers led 7-0 midway through the second quarter before the Buckeyes finished the game on a 38-8 run. It resulted in a humbling loss, one Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said stayed on his team's mind throughout the offseason.

Indiana running back Kaelon Black still remembers the flight home.

"Horrible," Black said Tuesday. "It was horrible. Just the thought, we had lost our first game and it honestly just hurt a lot."

But the loss marked an invaluable learning lesson for Indiana, and while it reset expectations for the Hoosiers' ceiling in 2024, it elevated the program to reach heights like Saturday night.

"While that was not an enjoyable experience," Cignetti said Sunday, "it was an experience that was necessary for our growth and development to go into a hostile environment like Ohio State and play a team of that quality."

Indiana struggled mightily with the noise and atmosphere at Ohio State. The Hoosiers were punched in the mouth and couldn't absorb it, much less fight back. They were, by all accounts, overwhelmed.

"Was the moment too big for that football team? I mean, really, objectively, you'd almost have to say it was," Cignetti said. "We did some uncharacteristic things in pass protection. We did some uncharacteristic things with our punt team, which gave up 14 points. And we didn't respond very well."

The same happened in the Hoosiers' 27-17 loss to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff last season. They needed a late rally to trim their deficit from four possessions to two.

Those feelings, those rides back to Bloomington, served as offseason fuel for Indiana, which never let those emotions fade.

"I think in the offseason, those were two experiences that our guys had a long time to think about and prepare for in advance for the next one," Cignetti said. "And I think this team has responded to those type of challenges. We have met every challenge and overcome this season because of the way we prepare.

"We've stacked days, meetings, and practices and put it on the field, play one to 150, every game. And that's what it'll take this week."

Indiana feels it's in a better spot this year than last, not solely due to the dents in armor it received in Columbus and South Bend. The Hoosiers added key pieces this offseason, Cignetti said, and have veterans who've played extensive snaps and endured loud environments.

The lessons learned last season at Ohio State haven't flown over the heads of Indiana's newcomers. Senior running back Roman Hemby, who transferred from Maryland last winter, said returning Hoosiers have relayed their emotions and are taking Saturday's game "a little bit more personal."

"They have a bad taste in their mouth a little bit, just because we want to win every game and they came up short last year," Hemby said. "So, being as though it's a championship game, we're going to attack it the way that we attack every game.

"But everybody wants it a little bit more, and we're going to do everything that we can to come up with a win."

Cignetti feels Indiana has already conquered some of the big moments it struggled in last year.

The win over Oregon served as proof the Hoosiers can beat top five teams. A 63-10 win over then-No. 9 Illinois sent an early-season statement. Surviving Iowa, which finished 8-4 and saw each of its losses come by one possession, in a tough atmosphere added more confidence. Beating Penn State on the road helped, too.

Indiana will physically look the same as last year's matchup in Columbus — the trident and uniform color combination remain the same — but it carries much greater wisdom and a stronger feeling it belongs.

Now, the Hoosiers have to prove it on the biggest stage and under the brightest lights.

"We're going to find out Saturday how ready we are," Cignetti said. "We've met every challenge up to this point because we prepare consistently the way you need to prepare and put it on the field, and all three phases have been very consistent. That's what it's going to take this week.

"Detailed preparation, commit to the preparation, eliminate the noise and the clutter, put yourself in the best position to play your best on Saturday individually and collectively. It's my job to make sure that happens and the assistant coaches. With that done, five days from now, our guys will walk on the field with confidence they will get the job done."

Indiana won't need much motivation. Fisher, a team captain for all 12 weeks this season, said he enters each game trying to prove he's the best linebacker in the nation. He said his mindset has filtered throughout each position group, and the Hoosiers have grown to embody it.

Cignetti's team enters as underdogs by most sportsbooks. Indiana once would've embraced it. No longer. The Hoosiers want to prove they're the best team in the nation, and to be the best, Fisher said, they have to beat the best.

Now, Indiana has a chance to do exactly that. The Hoosiers earned the right to get another shot at the Buckeyes. They're not afraid of repeating last year. They're excited about the chance to write a different narrative.

This isn't David vs. Goliath. It's No. 1 vs. No. 2. It's "two giants clashing," Fisher said. And it's the opportunity Indiana has so desperately wanted since it trudged off the field in Columbus last November.

"This matchup is one we've been looking forward to for a really long time," Fisher said. "It's definitely stuck on my head and my mentality that if we do get another shot at this, we need to right some wrongs."