Indiana Throttles Illinois

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Gophergrandpa

Gophergrandpa

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Didn’t see Indiana vs Illinois, but am kind of stunned by the score. #17 Indiana destroyed the #9 Illini 63-10. Illinois obviously rated too high. Couple of thoughts.

First, the Indiana QB, Fernando Mendoza, transferred in from Cal, which is why the Gophers faced a true freshman QB last week at Cal. Mendoza was 21-23, 267 yards, 5 TDs and 0 Ints against Illinois. Glad we didn’t have to face Mendoza in the Cal game!

Second, Indiana’s coach, Cignetti said that his team broke Illinois’s spirit, accounting for the run-up. Cignetti just pours it on all game. Aggressive offense, aggressive defenses. A very different approach than PJ’s careful, conservative, often plodding game plans. Gopherholers often discuss whether there is such a thing as “Playing not to lose” versus “Playing to win.” A real thing or a spurious distinction (since all coaches play to win)? I think the distinction is real, but can’t put it into the right words. But I will say this: Cignetti is the prime example of what folks mean when they say a coach plays to win. He wants to beat every opponent into dust. He doesn’t sit on a small lead. He never takes his foot off the accelerator. And that mindset becomes the mindset of the whole team.
 

Gophergrandpa said:
Didn’t see Indiana vs Illinois, but am kind of stunned by the score. #17 Indiana destroyed the #9 Illini 63-10. Illinois obviously rated too high. Couple of thoughts.

First, the Indiana QB, Fernando Mendoza, transferred in from Cal, which is why the Gophers faced a true freshman QB last week at Cal. Mendoza was 21-23, 267 yards, 5 TDs and 0 Ints against Illinois. Glad we didn’t have to face Mendoza in the Cal game!

Second, Indiana’s coach, Cignetti said that his team broke Illinois’s spirit, accounting for the run-up. Cignetti just pours it on all game. Aggressive offense, aggressive defenses. A very different approach than PJ’s careful, conservative, often plodding game plans. Gopherholers often discuss whether there is such a thing as “Playing not to lose” versus “Playing to win.” A real thing or a spurious distinction (since all coaches play to win)? I think the distinction is real, but can’t put it into the right words. But I will say this: Cignetti is the prime example of what folks mean when they say a coach plays to win. He wants to beat every opponent into dust. He doesn’t sit on a small lead. He never takes his foot off the accelerator. And that mindset becomes the mindset of the whole team.
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Was Mendoza seeking a better payday, or did the Cal freshman phenom just beat him out?

I wouldn't think you'd go to IU seeking a payday, but who knows these days
 


Gophergrandpa said:
Didn’t see Indiana vs Illinois, but am kind of stunned by the score. #17 Indiana destroyed the #9 Illini 63-10. Illinois obviously rated too high. Couple of thoughts.

First, the Indiana QB, Fernando Mendoza, transferred in from Cal, which is why the Gophers faced a true freshman QB last week at Cal. Mendoza was 21-23, 267 yards, 5 TDs and 0 Ints against Illinois. Glad we didn’t have to face Mendoza in the Cal game!

Second, Indiana’s coach, Cignetti said that his team broke Illinois’s spirit, accounting for the run-up. Cignetti just pours it on all game. Aggressive offense, aggressive defenses. A very different approach than PJ’s careful, conservative, often plodding game plans. Gopherholers often discuss whether there is such a thing as “Playing not to lose” versus “Playing to win.” A real thing or a spurious distinction (since all coaches play to win)? I think the distinction is real, but can’t put it into the right words. But I will say this: Cignetti is the prime example of what folks mean when they say a coach plays to win. He wants to beat every opponent into dust. He doesn’t sit on a small lead. He never takes his foot off the accelerator. And that mindset becomes the mindset of the whole team.
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To your second part....fans love aggressive coaches because it is more exciting than playing more conservative. When it works (like it did last night) it's great but also has a lot more potential to backfire as well.

As to Indiana vs. Illinois......Indiana kicked the crap out of Illinois last night in all ways. Will be interesting to see how Illinois responds and to get a better sense for what kind of team they really are. They have a really favorable schedule but last night showed they are almost certainly not a top 10 team and this is another example of preseason ratings being off.

Next 3 weeks will fully answer the question as to just how good Indiana really is. They go on the road to Iowa and then after a bye week go to Eugene to take on Oregon. But they looked great last night and seem to have hit the transfer QB lottery again with Mendoza.

If Indana does prove this is not a mirage it will be intereting to see if they will be able to keep Cignetti there as there is a good chance he would be a hot commodity on the coachiing market after the season.
 



GopherGrit said:
Was Mendoza seeking a better payday, or did the Cal freshman phenom just beat him out?

I wouldn't think you'd go to IU seeking a payday, but who knows these days
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I haven’t fact checked dates, but I believe Mendoza was in the portal (thus gone), before Cal’s FR QB flipped his commitment or transferred from Oregon.
 

As I was watching Indiana’s boot crush ever deeper into Illinois’ throat last night, I started to think about starting a post about B1G teams that the Gophers have passed up since Fleck’s arrival, compared to B1G teams that have passed up the Gophers since Fleck’s arrival.

In 2019 I felt really good about that equation. In 2025 I am starting to wonder if this is a break even situation.
 

oh how the mighty have fallen. I remember receiving lectures from badgers fans about football. Now their team is below the Brewster line and Bert is getting his buns handed to him by Indiana. I am fine with Fleck and whatever he is doing. At least it is something you can hang your hat on.
 

Schnauzer said:
As I was watching Indiana’s boot crush ever deeper into Illinois’ throat last night, I started to think about starting a post about B1G teams that the Gophers have passed up since Fleck’s arrival, compared to B1G teams that have passed up the Gophers since Fleck’s arrival.

In 2019 I felt really good about that equation. In 2025 I am starting to wonder if this is a break even situation.
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The concept of passing up a team or being passed up is year to year.....Indiana looks great right now but in the 3 seasons prior to last year they won a total of 3 conference games.

We are firmly in that jumble of teams in the second tier of the conference. Indiana has now joined that group after spending years and years at the bottom. They had a season very similar to our 2019 last year.....now the question will be if they can repeat it.
 



PJ has always seemed to want to be Iowa or pre-Fickell Wisconsin and he’s done a fairly decent imitation depending on the year. This is the team we’ve chosen.

We’re also free to root for upstarts like Indiana to kick the crap out of the blue bloods or new rich Oregon and I will be doing so.
 

MNVCGUY said:
The concept of passing up a team or being passed up is year to year.....Indiana looks great right now but in the 3 seasons prior to last year they won a total of 3 conference games.

We are firmly in that jumble of teams in the second tier of the conference. Indiana has now joined that group after spending years and years at the bottom. They had a season very similar to our 2019 last year.....now the question will be if they can repeat it.
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Indiana joined that group?

I think making the playoffs puts them ahead of that group.

They may not make it again this year, but they just blew out the 9th-ranked team. Indiana may not be able to sustain it. Still, Cignetti certainly seems to understand that the metric for success of a football coach is having his team prepared and ready, and they're winning every game they should have, which is more than you can say for our program since 2021. Because they come ready to and prepared to win, not to outlast the opponent, and a "play not to lose" philosophy.
 





Schnauzer said:
As I was watching Indiana’s boot crush ever deeper into Illinois’ throat last night, I started to think about starting a post about B1G teams that the Gophers have passed up since Fleck’s arrival, compared to B1G teams that have passed up the Gophers since Fleck’s arrival.

In 2019 I felt really good about that equation. In 2025 I am starting to wonder if this is a break even situation.
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PJ Fleck football is higher floor, lower ceiling, special season once every 10 years.

I think at this point it has pretty much been borne out?
 




caliGopher said:
Indiana joined that group?

I think making the playoffs puts them ahead of that group.

They may not make it again this year, but they just blew out the 9th-ranked team. Indiana may not be able to sustain it. Still, Cignetti certainly seems to understand that the metric for success of a football coach is having his team prepared and ready, and they're winning every game they should have, which is more than you can say for our program since 2021. Because they come ready to and prepared to win, not to outlast the opponent, and a "play not to lose" philosophy.
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As it sits right now they have one really good season and are off to a nice start in the next one. That doesn't elevate them into the top tier with schools like Ohio State and Oregon.

As I said in another post....in the 3 years prior to last season they won a combined 3 Big Ten games so they are still in the prove it phase.
 

MNVCGUY said:
As it sits right now they have one really good season and are off to a nice start in the next one. That doesn't elevate them into the top tier with schools like Ohio State and Oregon.

As I said in another post....in the 3 years prior to last season they won a combined 3 Big Ten games so they are still in the prove it phase.
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I agree, plus them making the playoffs was largely based on a cup cake schedule. This Illinois team is the best team they’ve beaten and the consensus seems to be that Illinois was very overrated. The Illinois team we beat last year is probably better than this Illinois team.
 

Schnauzer said:
As I was watching Indiana’s boot crush ever deeper into Illinois’ throat last night, I started to think about starting a post about B1G teams that the Gophers have passed up since Fleck’s arrival, compared to B1G teams that have passed up the Gophers since Fleck’s arrival.

In 2019 I felt really good about that equation. In 2025 I am starting to wonder if this is a break even situation.
Click to expand...
This is the second time I’ve been told Indiana has passed us as a program since Fleck has been here. This time it’s a different coach leading Indiana, so cautionary tale that a program is not established by having one good season. I’ve also heard that Purdue and NW were ahead of us at certain points as well.
 

If Indiana were in the Big 12 they would already be ranked in the Top 5.
 

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