Indiana University Athletics
Game Notes: Indiana Travels to Wisconsin
12/1/2020 8:00:00 AM | Football
Setting The Scene
• No. 10/11 Indiana (5-1, 5-1 B1G East) heads to No. 18/19 Wisconsin (2-1, 2-1 B1G West) on Saturday, Dec. 5. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. CDT/3:30 p.m. EDT at Camp Randall Stadium (Field Turf) on ABC.
• IU is ranked for the sixth-consecutive week, its longest stretch since 1987 (6 weeks), coming in at No. 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 and at No. 11 in the Amway Coaches Poll presented by USA Today Sports.
• This marks its third week in the Top 10 in 2020, the most for the program since 1967 (5 weeks).
• The Hoosiers entered the College Football Playoff rankings on Nov. 24 for the first time in school history at No. 12.
• Indiana collected its first Top-10 ranking in the Nov. 8 AP Poll (No. 10) since Sept. 22, 1969 (No. 10), and its No. 9 rating from Nov. 15 was its best in the AP Poll since Nov. 27, 1967 (No. 4).
• The Hoosiers 5-1 record is their best overall start since 2007 and their best conference start since 1987 (5-1).
• Indiana is 13-6 overall and 10-5 in league play since the start of the 2019 campaign.
• With its win over Maryland, IU clinched a winning Big Ten record in consecutive seasons for first time since 1987-88 and for the sixth time overall (1967-68, 1944-46 and 1936-37).
• The Hoosiers five B1G victories are tied for the third-most in program history (2019, 1993, 1991, 1988, 1979, 1945) behind six-win campaigns in 1967 and 1987.
• Indiana matched a school-record with five-straight conference wins (1967) before losing at No. 3 Ohio State and has won 10 of its last 13, its most successful stretch in Big Ten games since a 10-3 mark from Oct. 3, 1987-Oct. 29, 1988.
• IU opened 4-0 for the first time since 2015 (4-0) and the seventh time in program history (1990, 4-0; 1986, 4-0; 1985, 4-0; 1967, 8-0; 1910, 5-0). It went 4-0 to start league play for just the third time (1987, 4-0; 1967, 5-0).
• The Hoosiers defeated Michigan State, 24-0, to reclaim the Old Brass Spittoon for the first time since 2016 and earn their first victory in East Lansing since 2001. Indiana has both of its rivalry trophies, the Spittoon and the Old Oaken Bucket (Purdue).
• IU's 38-21 victory over No. 23 Michigan was its first over the Wolverines since Oct. 24, 1987 (14-10).
• The Hoosiers 36-35, overtime win against No. 8 Penn State in the season opener was the sixth against a Top-10 opponent in school history, with the last coming at No. 9 Ohio State (31-10) on Oct. 10, 1987.
• It marked Indiana's first Top-10 victory at Memorial Stadium since Nov. 25, 1967 (No. 3 Purdue, 19-14).
• IU has defeated PSU, U-M and MSU in the same season for the first time in program history and beaten the Wolverines and Spartans in the same year for the first time since 1967.
• The Hoosiers have downed two ranked teams for the sixth time in school history and for the first time since 2004. The 1945 team holds the program record with three ranked wins in one year.
The Coaches
• One of 22 semifinalists for the 2019 George Munger College Coach of the Year Award, Tom Allen is 23-21 in his fourth season at Indiana. Allen, who is on the watch lists for the 2020 Dodd Trophy and Paul "Bear" Bryant Awards, became the fourth-fastest IU head coach to reach 20 wins (40 games), trailing only James Horne (32, 1898-1904), James Sheldon (34, 1905-13) and Ewald Stiehm (39, 1916-21). A 28-year coaching veteran, Allen was named the program's 29th head football coach on Dec. 1, 2016. He made his debut in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl. (full bio on page 15)
• Two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Paul Chryst is 54-17 (.761) in his sixth season at Wisconsin. Chryst is the third coach in modern B1G history to win 50 games in his first five years. He is 73-36 (.670) in his ninth overall campaign (Pitt, 2012-14).