Bloomington’s Booming Saturday Night
56,000 people poured into Bloomington, Indiana, for the game against Illinois, the first-ranked matchup between the two teams since 1987. Indiana started the game with a quick stop against Illinois that led to a blocked punt for Indiana. Fernando Mendoza was sharp in the 63- 10 win over Illinois; he was 21-23 for 267 yards. Khobie Martin also had 100 yards on the ground after the first-string running back Lee Beebe Jr tore his ACL against Indiana State and will not be back the whole year. This win is a statement as Indiana knocks off a top 10 team by 53 points. Indiana dominated the entire game, leading 35-10 at halftime, and then outscored Illinois by 38 points in the second half.
Indiana starts 4-0 in back-to-back years, hoping to return to the CFP that they made for the first time in program history last year. In the new AP rankings, Indiana is currently ranked number 11 in the country. The Hoosiers have what some would call a trap game against the Iowa Hawkeyes this week, coming off a huge win and having a potential top 10 game the next week. Indiana’s quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, will try and stay strong. According to Yahoo Sports, He is currently 1st in the Heisman Race, aka the best player in the country award. He has thrown for 975 yards with 14 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. He also has 2 rushing touchdowns on the year.
