Prolific Offense Equipped for Rose Bowl Game
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - How do you explain Indiana’s prolific offensive success beyond Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza heading into a Jan. 1, 2026, Rose Bowl quarterfinal College Football Playoff showdown?
Carter Smith, the Hoosiers’ mammoth senior left tackle and Big Ten Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year, knows the answer and it doesn’t involve Mendoza, who is also the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year and quarterback of the year as well as the Associated Press college football national player of the year and the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award winner, or game-breaking receivers Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt or do it all running backs Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black, or tough as nails tight end Riley Nowakowski.
Here’s a hint -- think offensive line, which is as good as any in the country.
“Find your targets,” Smith says. “Do your job. That’s the entirety of our offense.”
If that sounds simplistic given the top-seeded Hoosiers (13-0 and Big Ten champions) led the conference and ranked second nationally during the regular season by averaging 44.3 points per game, it doesn’t make it any less true. A program-record seven Hoosiers received all-conference designation.
It’s an impressive follow up to last year’s Big Ten-leading average of 41.3 points under offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and head coach Curt Cignetti-- back-to-back national coach of the year -- and reflects a relentless work ethic.
“There’s always a little more you can do,” Smith says. “Whether you take the time to come in early and put on the pads before practice and work on footwork, or after practice maybe you borrow a couple of the young guys and work to give you some looks.
“You have to know that the work is never done.”
There’s one other key, Smith adds with that Rose Bowl opportunity looming:
“We have to come out with confidence,” he says with a smile, “and smack some heads.”
The Hoosiers have thrived with balance and consistency to earn a second-straight College Football Playoff appearance.
Cignetti says his teams have led the conference in scoring -- including the Sun Belt when he was at James Madison -- the last seven years.
“It’s all about balance,” he says. “You have to run and throw it. We’re RPO (run-pass option) based. From there it’s the quick game, the play-action and drop-back game.
“Defenses all have tendencies and concepts. You have to attack all of them. We’ve had great quarterback success. It’s all about the quarterback and what he can do. We’ve had dual-threat guys and drop-back guys. We play a certain way. Those guys take it to heart and you see the result on the field.”
Beyond that, Hemby says, “it's approaching every game the same way.”
“We're in the business where we know everyone is capable of beating everybody. We'd be doing a disservice to ourselves if we got up for certain opponents and treated different opponents lightly. We're attacking every game as if it's our Super Bowl because it's the next game and it's the next opportunity to showcase our talents.”
No Hoosier showcases those talents better than Mendoza, who has thrown for 2,980 yards and a national-leading 33 touchdowns while completing 71.5 percent of his passes in his first IU season after transferring from the University of California.
Beyond those impressive achievements, his Heisman Trophy win reflects a winner’s knack few can match. His game-winning fourth-quarter drives at Iowa, at Oregon and at Penn State, plus his toughness and clutch fourth-quarter completion to basically clinch the Big Ten title game victory over Ohio State will live on in Hoosier lore.
"What stands out to me,” Cignetti says, “is the way he performs when the game is on the line, the plays he makes, the throws he makes. He's made a number of big plays with his legs, as well.
“We've been involved in quite a few tight contests, away from home or at a neutral venue, and that's when he seems to lock in and play his best ball. He has the ability to extend plays, and he really throws the long ball well.”
In one two-game stretch, including a blowout of then-No. 9 Illinois, Mendoza completed 40-of-43 passes for 537 yards, 10 touchdowns, and no interceptions.
“It’s the drive to be perfect,” Mendoza says. “You can never be complacent. That’s the reason I came here, to be the best quarterback I could become. Seeing my development accelerate is what I want. I want it to keep accelerating, keep having exponential growth.”
Adds cornerback D’Angelo Ponds: “It’s his knowledge and his IQ of the game. He can tell what coverage you're in, even if you're disguising it. His IQ of the game is very high.”
So is Mendoza’s quality of character, which was reflected in his Heisman winning speech. He highlighted his mother, Elsa, saying in part, “This is your trophy as much as it is mine … you’re my biggest supporter, my biggest why … you taught me that toughness doesn’t need to be loud.”
Mendoza also said that, “I want every kid out there who feels overlooked to know – I was you! I was that kid, too. I was in your shoes. I hope this moment shows you chasing your dreams are worth it, no matter how big or impossible they seem.”
As far as the team, Hemby credits IU’s offensive and overall success to mindset fueled by Cignetti and his staff but led by the players.
“I think it's player led. I feel like it's a good combination of a lot of things. Coach Cig (Cignetti) definitely doesn't miss those meetings when we say those types of things. He preaches that message to us.
“We have a veteran group where a lot of us have been in big situations before,” he says. “A lot of us have played in big games. We know what it takes; we know what we're capable of; and we know we have to put that product on the field every time.”
IU has scored 55-or-more points six times, including a 73-0 win over Indiana State and a 63-10 victory over Illinois.
Hemby, who made All-Big Ten, leads a powerful rushing attack with 918 yards and six touchdowns. Black has 814 yards and seven TDs. Khobie Martin has totaled 452 yards and six touchdowns. Lee Beebe Jr. was off to a big season (209 yards, a 7.7-yards-per-carry average) until suffering a season-ending knee injury in the third game.
The Hoosiers have three outstanding veteran receivers in Omar Cooper Jr. (58 catches, 804 yards, 11 touchdowns), Elijah Sarratt (51 catches, 687 yards, 12 touchdowns), and E.J. Williams Jr. (34, 416, 5). When Sarratt missed a couple of games with an injury, Charlie Becker stepped up big time (he had six catches for 128 yards against Ohio State in the Big Ten title game win) and finished with 26 catches for 515 yards and two touchdowns. Nowakowski has been a big part of the passing attack with 25 catches for 316 yards and two TDs.
Cooper Jr., Sarratt and Nowakowski earned All-Big Ten honors.
The offensive line is one of the nation’s best behind Smith, who didn’t allow a sack in the regular season, and All-Big Ten center Pat Coogan.
“Carter played well last season,” Cignetti says, “but he’s been extremely consistent this season. He was our player of the game against Purdue. He’s smart, committed, dedicated, a great teammate, a competitor, and a tough guy. He’s everything you want in a player.”