Indiana kept finding a way on Saturday, but it took overtime, two booming kicks from 60 yards, and a little late-game chaos to get there.
The Hoosiers edged Minnesota 23-16 to move to 8-1 overall and 5-1 in Big Ten play. Charlie Becker’s overtime touchdown finished the job, but Paddy McAteer’s leg was just as important in getting Indiana to the finish line.
For most of the afternoon, this was a defensive grind. Then the last 19 seconds of regulation turned into a kicking showcase nobody saw coming.
Minnesota’s Luke Drzewiecki hit a 60-yard field goal with 19 seconds left, a blast that looked like it might settle the game right there. Indiana answered by moving 33 yards on one pass to Becker, setting up McAteer to drill a 60-yarder of his own and force overtime.
That kind of sequence is rare at any level, but especially in college football, where kicks from that distance usually live in the “maybe” category. Seeing one 60-yard field goal is unusual enough. Seeing two in the span of less than a minute is almost absurd.
Indiana’s record keeps getting better, but the path keeps getting tighter. The Hoosiers have now won four games against unranked opponents by one possession, and this latest escape fit that pattern perfectly.
The wins are piling up. The concern is whether this keeps holding up when the competition gets even sharper.
For now, Indiana is surviving. But it’s doing it the hard way.
In Other News...
Indiana Spotlight Weekend Included A Brutal Near Miss Fans Wont Forget
Pat McAfee brought his Kicking is Easy contest to Bloomington during Week 9, and Indiana fans got a front-row seat to one of the seasons most nerve-racking moments. Student Jackson stepped up for two tries from 33 yards, with a $1 million prize hanging in the balance, and the setup had all the ingredients for a campus moment nobody would forget.
The contest has already produced several successful college kicks this season, including a recent $3 million win by BYU student Carter, which only sharpened the tension around Jacksons attempt. Instead, the Hoosiers crowd was left with a brutal near miss on both tries, and the episode wrapped with special guest Isiah Thomas making picks ahead of Indianas Big Ten game. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana's Homecoming Test Feels Bigger Than A Routine Big Ten Saturday
Homecoming in Bloomington brings a little extra weight to Saturdays Big Ten matchup, with Indiana set to welcome Minnesota to Memorial Stadium in a late-afternoon window that should give the game a bigger stage than a typical league date. The Hoosiers come in at 7-1, Minnesota at 5-2, and both teams have spent the fall building enough momentum to make this one feel like more than just another conference checkpoint.
Curt Cignettis group has turned every home date into a measuring stick, and this one arrives with CBS carrying the broadcast and P.J. Fleck bringing a familiar brand of physical, disciplined football into town. For Indiana, the setting matters as much as the standings, because a win here would keep the Hoosiers right where they want to be in the Big Ten picture while giving the homecoming crowd a game with real consequence. [Read more 🡒]
Indianas Playoff Case May Depend On A Rsum Problem Fans Hate
Indianas path to the College Football Playoff is starting to look less like a simple rsum check and more like a waiting game. The Hoosiers still need the kind of ranked win that looks good to the selection committee, but the value of that win can shift depending on what happens around the country, especially with teams such as Northwestern, Minnesota and USC.
That is the frustrating part for Indiana fans: the Hoosiers may not control the exact shape of their own best argument by Selection Sunday. If those teams keep winning, or even improve their standing, Indianas strength of schedule case gets a cleaner boost. If they slip, the rsum problem gets harder to solve, and the margin for error gets even smaller. [Read more 🡒]