The No. 13 Indiana Hoosiers are seeing signs of success all around them lately.
Players and coaches are now getting a lot of midweek interview requests as they become the newest favorites in college football. Network teams are moving their pregame shows to Indiana’s campus. Fans can’t stop talking about how Indiana is leading the Big Ten standings and even the possibility of earning a spot in this year’s playoffs, which seemed unlikely before.
However, new coach Curt Cignetti wants his team to ignore the excitement and focus on their goal — defeating Washington on Saturday to keep their perfect record.
“I think it’s great exposure for the football program and the university,” Cignetti said about having ESPN’s “College Gameday” at Memorial Stadium, just a week after Fox’s Big Noon Saturday show was there. “Now we’ve got to do our part.”
So far, no one has been able to stop Indiana (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten), which is just one win away from matching the best start in school history set by the 1967 Rose Bowl team, adding to this incredible season.
Now, though, the Hoosiers are facing their biggest test yet — staying strong after losing starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke to a thumb injury. He got hurt in last week’s 56-7 win over Nebraska and had surgery on Monday.
This means Tayven Jackson, a third-year player from about an hour away from Bloomington, Indiana, needs to keep the team’s momentum going. Jackson, once a highly-rated recruit, threw two touchdown passes in a strong second half after Rourke left the game against the Cornhuskers.
Washington coach Jedd Fisch is cautious about thinking that Rourke’s replacement will struggle on a big stage.
“If I was going off that small sample, I would say it doesn’t look like he did too much different,” Fisch said, talking about Jackson’s performance against Nebraska. “I would guess they’ll make some adjustments. They will probably have some changes, but they certainly didn’t make any big changes in that game.”
Jackson has completed 12 of 18 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns in four games this season, mostly in garbage time. This week’s challenge will be different.
The Huskies (4-3, 2-2) rank third in the FBS for pass efficiency defense, eighth in total defense, and are 16th in scoring defense, allowing 17.0 points per game. However, they haven’t faced a team quite like the Hoosiers. Indiana leads the FBS in scoring at 47.5 points, is second nationally with 28 rushing touchdowns, and has not trailed at all this season, while Washington has lost two of its last three games.
Fisch understands the challenge, even after a bye week.
“They’re playing fantastic football,” Fisch said. “They’re scoring a ton of points, they’re certainly in that conversation of being one of the best teams in the country right now.”
Cignetti just wants his players to stay focused on the game instead of getting caught up in the attention. He wants them to keep showing they deserve the recognition by winning each Saturday.
“We’re winning games, creating a lot of excitement, and that adds to the excitement,” Cignetti said about the media coverage. “Once again, we’ve got to do our part.”
