by The 2024 Indiana Football season was historic, with National Coach of the Year Curt Cignetti leading the program to its first College Football Playoff appearance and a top-10 national ranking
Part 5 | On Being an Indiana Football Fan Part 4 is here
Curt Cignetti isn’t just coaching Indiana football, he’s rewriting IU history. In his first season, he’s transformed the Hoosiers from Big Ten afterthought to College Football Playoff contender, blazing to an 11-1 record that includes an 8-1 Big Ten run.
Before this season, Indiana football was a perennial farce. The program’s lone Rose Bowl appearance came 57 seasons ago, with limited bright spots drowned in decades of disappointment. But as college football’s landscape has shifted, Indiana saw opportunity. And it refused to be left behind.
Athletic Director Scott Dolson, a former student manager under Bob Knight, saw the crossroads ahead. With the Big Ten’s television revenues soaring past $1 billion annually and conference realignment reshaping the sport, Indiana chose bold action. The school poured $15.5 million into buying out former coach Tom Allen, landed Cignetti fresh off an 11-win season at James Madison, and invested serious cash in both Cig, who just earned AP National Coach of the Year, and assistant coaches and support staff.
The results? Electric. Indiana’s offense leads the nation in pass efficiency (179.1) and ranks second in scoring (43.3 ppg), while the defense shuts down opponents, allowing just 244.8 yards per game, second-best nationally. Under Cignetti’s leadership, the Hoosiers rocketed to No. 5 in the AP Poll during a program-best 10-0 start.
Now No. 9 Indiana is playing for a national championship.
First stop is Friday in South Bend. IU battles 5th-ranked Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff-opening showdown that doubles as the state championship. It’s the first IU-ND clash since 1991 (I was at Notre Dame Stadium that day; Hoosier speedster Vaughn Dunbar had a nice rushing performance in a loss) with the winner advancing to face No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s night.
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke directs Cignetti’s up-tempo offense, while second team All American Mikail Kamara and All B1G corner D’Angelo Ponds anchor a defense that suffocates opposing offenses.
The Hoosiers are mudders, too. (Are the Irish?) IU has already played in the snow and cold at night. They handed archrival Purdue its worst defeat ever, 66-0.
The skeptics keep doubting. They pointed to UCLA; Indiana won. Maryland; won again. Washington and Michigan; Win. Win. Even after the lone stumble at Ohio State (where special teams miscues gifted the Buckeyes 14 points), the questions persist about whether Indiana can compete with college football’s elite.
And that’s exactly how Cignetti likes it.
His team thrives on being underestimated, feeding off the energy of proving wrong the haters and media fools. While the pundits frame the Notre Dame game as Indiana’s ultimate test, for these Hoosiers, it’s just one more time to show that 2024 is no fairy tale. It is reality.
On Friday night, the Irish bring an elite secondary and a quality ground game. But IU’s defense is elite versus the run. Something’s got to give. Although I won’t be there in person this time around, I’ll be riveted to the screen from my Austin command post along with IU-senior son John.
Expect a raucous turnout from the Hoosier faithful as well. According to X posts, IU fans have been Stubhubbing the shit out of the venue. Hoosier fans need only to drive 150ish miles to the game, while Notre Dame supporters will need to Uber to a Florida airport, fly to Chicago, grab a train to South Bend and then Uber to the game. LOL (shoutout this guy: https://x.com/Cabbyfromgreene/status/1869012046303707174)
This is already the greatest IU season and team, and we aren’t finished. Stunning to realize: Cig has already earned his spot on Indiana athletics’ Mount Rushmore. He has achieved what no previous Indiana football coach in 137 years could.
His success isn’t just about X’s and O’s; it’s perfect timing. With unprecedented investment in facilities and NIL collectives, a transformed Memorial Stadium, and the Big Ten’s soaring revenues, Indiana backed its football ambitions with resources.
Those who don’t watch or yet fully understand what’s happening with IU football, are about to witness yet another chapter in this unfolding story.
Meanwhile, Indiana’s message is simple:
We’re just getting started.
ADDING 12/20/24 at 11 pm: Cignetti has redefined Indiana football, which rose from a 3-9 record one year ago to an 11-win season, securing second in the Big Ten and a College Football Playoff spot. Despite tonight’s tough 27-17 loss to Notre Dame, the Hoosiers showed no quit. It’s been a pleasure to watch this greatest of all IU football campaigns.
ADDING 1/10/2025: Unbelievable grit and toughness — IU quarterback Kurtis Rourke played the entire 2024 season with a torn ACL in his right knee, an injury he sustained in August, per an ESPN Jan. 3 report. Despite that and a fractured thumb that only cost him one game, Rourke led the Hoosiers to an historic 11-win season and their first College Football Playoff appearance. Yet another incredible chapter to this legendary Indiana season.
Stuart Wade 