It was a miracle Indiana won. Just like the 1980 Olympic hockey team. It will never have again.
Until it happens again.
It wasn't a miracle. They built something last year. They weren't satisfied with "a really good season by Indiana football standards" and they took steps to get to the next level.
Why was it a miracle?
Indiana proved that with a proper investment in the program even a P4 doormat can rise to the top. Doesn’t give me hope unless we start seeing the investment.
We can.
Cignetti, was an assistant coach for 28 yr, before he became a head coach. All 136 Div 1 teams passed on him hundreds of times. Gophers passed on him 5 times. Nobody, I mean nobody saw this coming. A miracle.
IU had no five star players. The ROI they got from their transfers was 10% money and 90% miraculous.
Get busy living, or get busy dying.
Mendoza won the Heisman trophy and will go #1 in the NFL draft.
No credit to the stellar catches from the receivers or the lights-out defense they played with all season?
Nobody knew he was going to win the Heisman when they "bought" him. You make it sound like winning the trophy was preordained and Cuban outbid Alabama, Notre Dame and Ohio State.
Mendoza opened the season with the same odds to win the Heisman as Dylan Raiola and Miller Moss.
GopherGrit has had a burr up his backside over Cignetti and Indiana for months. He has no clue what he's talking about. He complimented me on another thread for a very thorough rebuttal (and my total demolishing of his flawed argument) of his anti-Cignetti position/opinion, yet he continues to spew the narrative about Indiana and Cuban "buying" the Heisman and Natty, and not giving Cignetti, his staff, and his players the appropriate props for winning the Natty. "Without Mendoza they'd be 9 and 3" - how the hell does GG have any idea what Indiana's record would be if Mendoza hadn't transferred from Cal to Indiana? Frankly, I've come to the conclusion that GG has his feet planted firmly in midair...
Well done, sir! Alas, I fear facts will not dissaude GG from his POV. Sigh...
Gophers have House money and whatever else DTA can come up with. But since most other P4 have the House money too, that's just going to rapidly drive up the price for good QB's in the portal.
Because with Mendoza they beat @ Iowa by 5, @ Oregon by 10, and @ Penn State by 3.
I don’t think anyone is saying that Mendoza was not a vital component to IU’s run. But the team was much more than just him.
Once again, you're confused. You've overlaid your hypothetical opinion onto a scenario that you cannot prove to be true or false, as Mendoza was Indiana's QB and not some hypothetical QB you made up in your mind. That is a fact, and to quote you, "it's really not rocket science." I guess that's why we have fan boards so people can opine what they "feel" to be true and ignore relevant facts such as those that Scottsdale Gopher provided above.
