Multiple depth pieces have shined for Indiana football throughout 2025, including its College Football Playoff run.
Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Hoosiers pulled off another resounding College Football Playoff blowout this past Saturday, this time against an Oregon team it had already beaten on the road in the regular season. In front of an Indiana-friendly crowd, Cignetti and co. dismantled Oregon 56-22 in a game that was mostly over by halftime.
Much has been made about Indiana’s rapid ascent to the top tier of the sport under Cignetti. Whether it’s his ability to scout and develop overlooked players like Elijah Sarratt — a zero star recruit out of high school — or his staff’s meticulous game-planning and in-game adjustments, pundits are stunned by the fact that this Indiana team is no fluke.
While this season may come as less of a surprise to fans who watched last season intently and saw the seeds of what was to come, the Hoosiers’ sudden ability to beat ranked teams has still been jarring.
Tough losses to Notre Dame and Ohio State last year made Indiana the paradigmatic ‘undeserving’ team in the new, expanded College Football Playoff. This reputation stuck with Indiana, at least until Cignetti went and won in Eugene for some. For the more ignorant (or bad faith) media, Indiana wasn’t for real until it beat ‘Bama.
Two straight blowout wins later, there’s no doubt that Indiana is the team that everyone claimed it could never be, even after last year’s 11-win season. The reason for that? Cignetti’s newfound depth up and down the roster.
As with last year, Indiana dealt with injuries to key players this year that could have derailed the season. The Hoosiers beat inferior opponents last year when Kurtis Rourke missed time with a thumb injury, but could not take down the Buckeyes or Fighting Irish without their best player at 100%.
Lee Beebe Jr. could have been one of those injuries this year, looking like part of a versatile trio of backs that carried Indiana’s offense through much of the non-conference. In came Khobie Martin, a redshirt freshman who was going to have to fight for every carry he got before Beebe Jr.s’ injury.
Against Oregon, Martin only had four carries, but they were consequential. He amassed 42 yards on those touches and got a pair of first downs late in the fourth quarter as Indiana needed to run clock. A pair of three yard runs at the tail end of the drive set up a longer touchdown rush for Kaelon Black, his second of the day.
Indiana was dealt another potentially crushing blow following the Big Ten Championship, when Stephen Daley went down with a freak injury in the post game celebration. Daley was among the top in the country in tackles for losses and playing at a level that allowed Indiana to withstand the injury of Kellan Wyatt, another top edge rusher.
Though he had a relatively quiet game against Alabama in the Rose Bowl, the Peach Bowl was a breakout game for sophomore Daniel Ndukwe. He had a season-high 42 snaps, 3 tackles, two sacks, and a blocked punt filling in for Daley and Wyatt.
Then there was the receiving room. Top options Omar Cooper Jr. and Sarratt are finally fully healthy, but Oregon’s defense was really overwhelmed by the presence of Indiana’s secondary options, Charlie Becker and E.J. Williams, who each caught touchdowns.
Becker, a sophomore, and Williams, a fifth-year player, are at different points in their careers, but both were able to step up and contribute to a roster that’s no longer as top-heavy as it was even last season.
The Hoosiers being 2-3 deep at crucial positions, both on the line and at the skill spots, is new to the 2025-26 season. Recruiting has certainly started to surge lately, but Cignetti’s acquisitions through high school and the portal have already proved to be a difference maker in raising the ceiling for what the program can achieve.
Category: General Sports
