Indiana is Suddenly a True National Championship Threat

Time for the cute stories and rah-rah Indiana stuff is officially over. No longer is Indiana football the laughing stock of college football, as last year proved.

However, Saturday proved something else that nobody could have seen coming.

Indiana football is truly a national championship contender.

Yes, that same Indiana that has lost more than 700 games and is best known for counting down the days until basketball season tips off.

Indiana Dominated Oregon on Saturday

Much of the talk before Saturday's showdown in Eugene was if Indiana could manage to keep it close at Oregon. College football fans of the Big Ten and on a national level couldn't wait to bring up the "but Notre Dame" and "but Ohio State" thoughts from last year.

Saturday showed last year was last year and served as a foundation for something even more special this fall in Bloomington.

In dominating Oregon, especially in the second half, Indiana announced itself to the nation as not just a feel-good story that could head back to the College Football Playoff, but a team that could win the entire thing.

Never doubted ourselves. pic.twitter.com/BnbqTO9RoH
— Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) October 11, 2025

Indiana's ability to run the ball was a big concern going in, and ultimately it averaged just 3.0 yards per carry for the day, but it did enough, especially early, to help open passing lanes and create time for Fernando Mendoza, who threw for 215 yards and a touchdown.

Couple that with a suffocating defense and you have exactly what you need if you're trying to build a national championship contender.

Indiana's Defense Owned Oregon in Second Half

Just a few weeks ago we saw Oregon struggle through a first half before exploding in the second half offensively and beating Penn State. Now, that Penn State win seems less impressive with each passing Nittany Lions loss, but Oregon has been a team that starts slow offensively for much of 2025, before pouring it on.

It started fairly slow Saturday against the Hoosiers, but here's the thing. It never got out of running in the mud, because Indiana's defense held Heisman Trophy contender Dante Moore in check for the afternoon.

For the second half, Oregon was able to muster just 64 yards of offense. It wound up with 10 second half points thanks to a pick-six, but only three of those came from the offense.

As the game went on, it was Indiana doing to Oregon what the nation has seen Oregon do to so many teams over the past few years: establishing is will.

Indiana Can Win a National Championship in Football:

Outside of playing the NCAA Football video game in my dorm room 20 years ago, I never in my life thought I'd type the above words I just did. Indiana has a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, an offensive line that be extremely physical up front and outworks a mighty team like Oregon, and plays nasty, suffocating defense.

What Curt Cignetti has done in just 19 games at Indiana is nothing short of remarkable. The Hoosiers are essentially a shoo-in for the College Football Playoff after Saturday's impressive showing in Eugene, and its got the makeup to reek a lot of havoc once it returns there.