Peachy Night in Atlanta
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
ATLANTA -- Seventy minutes before Indiana began its 56-22 Friday night Peach Bowl thrashing of Oregon and All-America linebacker Aiden Fisher stalked the Mercedes Benz Stadium Field with ferocity normally reserved for a Ridely Scott Gladiator movie. Woe to anyone getting in his way.
Eleven seconds into the game, All-American D’Angelo Ponds’ pick-six of Oregon quarterback Dante Moore rocked the Ducks into eventual submission.
Thirty-four minutes into the game, All-Big Ten center Pat Coogan recovered a quarterback Fernando Mendoza fumble after an 18-yard scramble. While Coogan’s first-down gesture lacked running back/receiver flair, it did lead to a third-quarter Mendoza touchdown pass to receiver E.J. Williams Jr. that ended the Ducks’ comeback hopes.
Forty-seven minutes into the game, defensive tackle Daniel Ndukwe, a reserve until Stephen Daley’s season-ending knee injury after the Ohio State victory, blocked a punt that led to another IU touchdown. Ndukwe added two sacks and a forced fumble.
At the end of the game, Mendoza was 17-for-20 for 177 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, then found time to discuss delayed gratification and stoicism because -- why not?. Add the Alabama victory and Mendoza has eight touchdowns, no interceptions and just five incompletions in the playoffs.
They highlighted unprecedented dominance -- IU outscored Alabama and Oregon 94-25 -- that sent the top-seeded Hoosiers (15-0) into the Jan. 19 national championship game against 10th-seeded Miami (13-2).
“It’s a great win against a really good team,” coach Curt Cignetti said. “It started with Ponds’ pick-six. We created some turnovers and capitalized on defense. It’s a great win.”
If no one outside the program saw this national title opportunity coming, it makes no difference now.
“A lot of people don’t know our team and what we’ve got,” Cignetti said. “There were a lot of skeptics last year who thought that we were a fluke. That negative stuff fueled our returning guys. They we added some key people, including (Mendoza). We built off our successes. We won some big games on the road. It helps to have a quarterback who plays his best in the fourth quarter. So, here we are.”
Or, as Mendoza put it, “All that matters is the national championship.”
Friday night’s victory followed up on Indiana’s 30-20 regular-season win over the Ducks (13-2) and left Oregon coach Dan Lanning in admiration.
“All the credit in the world to Indiana,” he said. “I said before that they're an unbelievably well-coached team and that was really apparent tonight. They started off hot, and they didn't slow down.
“You see a really complete team. They obviously have a great chance to keep it going and have unbelievable success.”
Mercedes-Benz Stadium rocked to a Cream ‘n Crimson beat. Hoosier fan estimates surpassed 90 percent of the crowd, reflective of the large number of IU fans walking Atlanta streets on game day and of the 805,000 largest-in-the-nation alumni base that fueled it.
The resulting crowd noise likely contributed to the Ducks having three turnovers to IU’s zero.
“A shoutout to Hoosier Nation for being here,” Mendoza said. “They forced Oregon to go on a silent count. When you do that, it can account for points.”
The atmosphere -- which included former IU baseball All-American and current Major League slugging superstar Kyle Schwarber as honorary captain and business giant and IU grad Mark Cuban -- flipped the scenario from the first game, which was held at Oregon.
“They had a ton of fans here,” Moore said. “It was pretty loud. (IU fans) came out and showed out.”
IU had reached the semifinals with the lowest team talent composite among the four qualifiers according to 247Sports, with a No. 72 national ranking. Oregon led with a No. 5 ranking thanks to four straight top-15 national recruiting classes. Miami was 15th and Ole Miss was 21st.
What did that mean Friday night?
Not a darn thing.
Oregon had seven first-half possessions -- two fumbles, two punts, one pick-six, one missed field goal and one touchdown. It had 121 total yards.
Four straight IU touchdown drives spanning the second and third quarters broke open the game.
“When you have good people and they buy in and prepare the right way,” Cignetti said, “and we have a lot of those guys. They’re high-character, smart guys that can play.”
Cignetti’s winning philosophy -- highlighted by “Fast Physical Relentless” and “Smart Disciplined Poised” -- showed on the opening kickoff with defensive back Bryon Baldwin’s rib rocking tackle, followed by Ponds’ pick-6 for a quick 7-0 IU lead.
“We play a lot of Cover Three,” Ponds said, “Coming out, I knew it was a RPO-type of deal. I played off so I could break on the ball. I read (Moore’s eyes) and got a jump on it. It was an amazing feeling to walk into the endzone.”
Oregon drove for the tying touchdown capped by quarterback Dante Moore’s 19-yard scoring pass.
Third-down completions of 23 yards to Sarratt and five yards to tight end Riley Nowakowski, followed by Roman Hemby runs of 12 and 11 yards, set up Mendoza’s eight-yard TD pass to Omar Cooper Jr. for a 14-7 lead near the end of the first quarter.
Defensive lineman Mario Landino recovered Moore’s fumble at the Oregon 3-yard line. Three plays later, running back Kaelon Black powered in for a 21-7 Hoosier lead with 8:17 left in the first half.
Mendoza’s 18-yard pass to Sarratt was followed by a 36-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Becker for a 28-7 lead.
Ndukwe forced Moore’s second fumble on a sack, and Landino recovered his second fumble. That led to Mendoza’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Sarratt for a 35-7 halftime lead.
IU opened the third quarter with Mendoza’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Williams for a 42-7 score. Following Ndukwe’s blocked punt, Mendoza added a three-yard scoring pass to Sarratt to counter a Miami touchdown and two-point conversion. Black added a 23-yard touchdown run before Oregon had a final score.
Next stop -- Miami.
“It’s going to be a great game,” said Mendoza, a Miami native who grew up less than a mile from the University of Miami campus. “The Hurricanes are a fantastic team led by a great coach.
“It will be about us playing our brand of football, playing Indiana Hoosiers football. We don’t have to do anything out of character.”