Adam RittenbergJan 9, 2026, 11:14 PM ETCloseCollege football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.Follow on X
Kaelon Black’s TD puts exclamation point on Peach Bowl for Indiana (0:30)Kaelon Black finds a hole and speeds to the end zone for a touchdown to give Indiana a 56-15 lead. (0:30)
ATLANTA — Dominance has been a tenet of Indiana football from the moment coach Curt Cignetti arrived on campus.
But Indiana has no interest in drama, just more dominance. The top-seeded Hoosiers clobbered No. 5 Oregon 56-22 on Friday at the CFP semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, taking the lead on the first play from scrimmage with a defensive score and never looking back. Indiana led 42-7 and scored touchdowns on four consecutive offensive drives, recycled a familiar script on another massive stage and avoided the fate other teams endured in a repeat matchup against an opponent it had beaten.
“We always come in here with a huge chip on our shoulder, something to prove,” wide receiver Charlie Becker told ESPN. “A lot of people doubted us; they say it’s going to be close games every game we played, or they say, ‘We’re going to take the other team.’ But I feel like we’ve come in here and proven that we can handle these kinds of games, and as the year goes on, our chip on our shoulder just grows more and more, which gets the dog in us to want to come out even more.”
Becker said the completeness with which Indiana wins is forged by Cignetti, who improved to 25-2 as Indiana’s coach. Indiana beat Alabama and Oregon in its two CFP games by a combined score of 94-25.
“There was a lot of skepticism after last year, that we were a fluke,” Cignetti said. “That [2024] team did a lot of great things and got it all started. That team never trailed until the ninth game of the year, and when it did, 10-0 in the first quarter up at Michigan State, they scored 47 straight. … I think a lot of that negative stuff in the media fueled the guys returning from this team, and we added some real key pieces.”
Indiana’s onslaught began on the first play from scrimmage when cornerback D’Angelo Ponds jumped a route to Oregon’s Malik Benson, intercepted the ball and strolled into the end zone for his third scoring return in as many seasons. Ponds saw the play as a run-pass option and played off Benson so he could break on the ball.
“Kind of read [Moore’s] eyes and got a good jump on it,” Ponds said. “It’s just an amazing feeling, walking into the end zone.”
Moore then lost two fumbles — his first in an Oregon uniform — later in the first half, one from a Daniel Ndukwe sack. Indiana recovered both deep in Oregon territory and converted them into touchdowns to extend its lead.
“I know that [Moore] left our last game thinking, ‘I was seeing ghosts. I’ve cleaned those mistakes up. I’m going to be better this time,'” Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines said. “For your first throw to cost your team six points, I think the impact on him was [significant].”
Mendoza had no such mistakes, delivering another near-flawless CFP performance, completing 17 of 20 passes for 177 yards and 5 touchdowns. In two CFP contests, the Heisman winner has 8 touchdown passes, zero interceptions and only 5 incompletions.
“My job is to be effective with really accurate balls and really great decisions, and that’s what I pride myself on every single play,” Mendoza said. “So, I’m glad those results have come. However, none of that matters. All that matters right now is [the] national championship.”
Mendoza is a Miami native who attended the same high school (Christopher Columbus) as University of Miami coach Mario Cristobal, who teamed there with Mendoza’s father, also named Fernando. The younger Mendoza grew up less than a mile from the University of Miami’s campus and attended games at Hard Rock Stadium but never played there.
Now, he’ll try to win Indiana’s first national championship in what Mendoza called “a very full-circle moment.”
“Seeing the fans really pop out and show love, it really puts it into perspective, just the gravity of everything that we’ve done here,” Ndukwe said.
“It’s a standard at this point,” Becker said. “But again, the job’s not finished. We still have another game.”
Kaelon Black’s TD puts exclamation point on Peach Bowl for Indiana (0:30)Kaelon Black finds a hole and speeds to the end zone for a touchdown to give Indiana a 56-15 lead. (0:30)
Kaelon Black finds a hole and speeds to the end zone for a touchdown to give Indiana a 56-15 lead. (0:30)
CloseCollege football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.Follow on X
Indiana isn’t finished, though. A once-unthinkable opportunity in the national championship awaits.