{"id":52381,"date":"2026-01-10T01:27:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T07:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=52381"},"modified":"2026-01-10T03:10:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T09:10:24","slug":"indiana-crushes-oregon-to-advance-to-first-championship-game-in-program-history-stunning-sports-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=52381","title":{"rendered":"Indiana crushes Oregon to advance to first championship game in program history, stunning sports world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 2025 Indiana Hoosiers<\/a> became the fifth team in modern college football history to go 15-0. Now they can become the first team of the modern era to ever go 16-0, and only the second of all-time, joining an 1894 Yale team that played with leather helmets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a merciless 56-22 thumping of Oregon<\/a> in the Peach Bowl, the Hoosiers punched their ticket to their first national championship game appearance in program history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Head coach Curt Cignetti has left the college football world breathless with a dramatic turnaround of the Hoosiers program, going from one of the losingest teams in the Big 10 to potentially the most dominant single-season of all time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elijah Sarratt #13 of the Indiana Hoosiers is tackled by Ify Obidegwu #7 of the Oregon Ducks during the first quarter in the 2025 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 09, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many prominent sports figures took to social media to express their amazement of Indiana’s unprecedented dominance during and after their win over Oregon. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun also chimed in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indiana’s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback<\/a> Fernando Mendoza threw five touchdown passes, improving his case to be the top pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kaelon Black ran for two touchdowns to lead the Indiana running game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Indiana Hoosiers is tackled by Aaron Flowers #21 of the Oregon Ducks during the second quarter in the 2025 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 09, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Kevin C. Cox\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon (13-2, No. 5 CFP) was doomed by the three first-half turnovers while also being short-handed by the absence of two of their top running backs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indiana\u2019s defense didn\u2019t wait long to make an impact. On Oregon\u2019s first snap, cornerback D\u2019Angelo Ponds intercepted Moore\u2019s pass intended for Malik Benson and returned the pick 25 yards for a touchdown. Only 11 seconds into the game, the Hoosiers and their defense already had made a statement this would be a long night for Moore and the Oregon offense<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moore\u2019s 19-yard scoring pass to tight end Jamari Johnson tied the game. The remainder of the half belonged to Indiana and its big-play defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Mendoza\u2019s 8-yard touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. gave the Hoosiers the lead for good at 14-7, Indiana\u2019s defense forced a turnover when Moore fumbled and Indiana recovered at the Oregon 3, setting up Black\u2019s scoring run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moore lost a second fumble later in the second quarter when hit by Daniel Ndukwe<\/u><\/a> and Mario Landino recovered at the Oregon 21. Mendoza\u2019s first scoring pass to Sarratt gave the Hoosiers\u2019 the 35-7 lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indiana extended its lead to 42-7 on Mendoza\u2019s 13-yard scoring pass to E.J. Williams Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oregon finally answered. A 70-yard run by Hill set up a 2-yard scoring run by Harris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hoosiers led 35-7 at halftime as the Ducks were held to nine rushing yards on 17 carries. Noah Whittington, who leads Oregon with 829 rushing yards, was held out with an undisclosed injury after Jordon Davison, who had rushed for 667 yards and 15 touchdowns, already was listed as out<\/u><\/a> with a collarbone injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Backup running backs, including Jay Harris and Dierre Hill Jr, provided too little help for quarterback Dante Moore. Moore\u2019s task against Indiana\u2019s stifling defense would have been daunting even with all his weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following their undefeated regular season, the Hoosiers have only gained momentum in the CFP. Indiana overwhelmed Alabama 38-3<\/u><\/a> in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal as Mendoza passed for 192 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the Hoosiers will prepare to face Miami on Jan. 19 in the national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Miami beat Mississippi<\/a> 31-27 in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal on Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roman Hemby #1 of the Indiana Hoosiers runs out of bounds before the endzone against the Oregon Ducks during the second quarter in the 2025 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 09, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Jonathan Bachman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indiana will try to give the Big Ten its third straight national title, following Ohio State and Michigan the last two seasons. Few teams from any conference can compare with the Hoosiers\u2019 season-long demonstration of balanced strong play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country will be watching to see if this unprecedented team can finish the job and really punch their ticket into the history books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

foxnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2025 Indiana Hoosiers became the fifth team in modern college football history to go 15-0. Now they can become the first team of the modern era to ever go 16-0, and only the second of all-time, joining an 1894 Yale team that played with leather helmets.  With a merciless 56-22 thumping of Oregon in the Peach Bowl, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":52382,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5782],"tags":[5341,1681,22808],"class_list":["post-52381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ep","tag-indiana","tag-oregon","tag-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=52381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52383,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52381\/revisions\/52383"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/52382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}