FOOTBALL

Win and you’re in. Indiana football ready for ‘exclamation point’ of regular season while admitting there’s still ‘a lot more of this book left to be written’

Indiana football are set for the final game of the regular season. It has implications. It has high stress. It means a bit more this year.

Published

2 days ago

November 30, 2024

Alec Lasley

Indiana football are set for the final game of the regular season. It has implications. It has high stress. It means a bit more this year. (Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images)

One more game. That’s all that separates Indiana football from a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Those are three words that nobody had even whispered about this program and this team. Picked to finish 17th — out of 18 teams — in the preseason Big Ten poll, Indiana now sits just one win away from clinching its spot in the playoff.

Just 12 months ago was a different story. Indiana had just fired Tom Allen and quickly moved to bring in Curt Cignetti — the hottest name on the market. From James Madison, Cignetti had never been a head coach at the Power 4 level. But, he had a winning season in every year as a head coach, no matter where he was. Indiana football needed a winner to instill a culture that had never been in Bloomington before.

Now at 10-1, Indiana is looking to put the final ‘exclamation point’ on what has been a historic season in so many ways and do so in order for this group of players to be remembered the right way.

“We’ve got one game left in this season. We need to put an exclamation point on this regular season or this group won’t be remembered quite as fondly as they could be,” Cignetti said this week on his radio show. “That must get done.”

That game? A matchup that Indiana hasn’t won since 2019; the Old Oaken Bucket. The difference this year? A total flip in the records. While IU is looking to make the CFP, Purdue is hoping to get its first Big Ten win of the season.

“Throw the records out the window in this one,” Cignetti said. “We have to play our absolute best game of the season on Saturday.”

It’ll also be a matchup where a lot of the current players on Indiana’s roster have no memories of previous matchups. With much of the roster coming from the transfer portal or high school, there aren’t many members of the current IU roster who have played in this game before.

That doesn’t mean it means any less. In fact, it means a little more for a group that may only have one time to play Purdue in their careers — and with it being the only game left that can steer this group off track from the ultimate goals it has.

Saturday’s matchup also coincides with Senior Day. While this won’t be the prototypical remembrance of a four-year career for the Indiana football fan base, all of the memories that this group has provided in three months is enough for a lifetime.

“Up to this point, this is a group that’s accomplished things that have never been done here before,” Cignetti said. “Because of their commitment, hard work and dedication, their togetherness, their leadership qualities, their ability on the field and their competitive spirit, they’ve put themselves in that position and that makes them a special group.

“It will be a group that will always be recognized and remembered. There’s a lot of them.”

Indiana’s 10 wins are the most in program history. Its seven wins in league play are the most conference wins Indiana has had, ever. IU’s 7-0 record at home? The best in program history. IU’s four sellout crowds to end the year? The second-most sold-out crowds in program history.

There’s many more numbers and records that have been set this season — both by the program and by individual players.

Purdue doesn’t care. And, Indiana knows that.

“I’m slowly starting to realize how important this game is,” IU defensive lineman and JMU transfer James Carpenter said this week. “When I first got here in January, I didn’t really know who the rivalry was. I didn’t realize how important this game was … I know that there is some pretty deep hatred between the two fanbases. That’s what college football is all about. We’re pumped for this game. We’re excited.”

“Since the first day I stepped on campus, even in recruitment, they talked about how much they hated Purdue,” IU tight end and fellow JMU transfer Zach Horton added. “It’s exciting to be part of that. I’m looking forward to it a lot. It gives you another reason to play.”

While it is a rivalry. While it is a massively important game for Indiana football. While it has so many implications.

It’s still a game. And it’s the next game on the schedule for IU. And like it has all year, preparation hasn’t changed. It’s about consistently and attention to detail.

And Curt Cignetti knows this isn’t meant to be the last sentence of the chapter, or the last page.

“I think there’s a lot more of this book left to be written.”