Todd’s Take: Don’t Be Shy, Get Fired Up For The Biggest Game In Indiana Football History

Curt Cignetti said that the next game is the biggest game. He’s a coach and he’s supposed to say that. Fans get the luxury of feeling it in the moment.

Indiana's Omar Cooper Jr. (3) and Ty Son Lawton (17) celebrate Cooper's touchdown during the Indiana versus Michigan football game at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 9, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The worst thing about Indiana’s football bye week was that it made waiting for the next game – No. 5 Indiana’s trip to No. 2 Ohio State – a two-week ordeal.

Tick, tick, tick, the minutes go by so slowly when you’re waiting for something so highly anticipated. C’mon, get here already!

Sure, the bye week was a very good thing for the Hoosiers in terms of healing up some injuries and shoring up schemes, refining the playbook and fixing any problems. None of that helps the anticipation level.

I’m ready right now. Is it kickoff yet? It seems like we’ve been waiting for this game all season and now that it’s close, the hysteria is at a fever pitch.

I’ve seen a lot of games in my career, but no college football game I’ve covered will be bigger than this one. I may be middle-aged, but I have teenage levels of passion about getting the chance to write about this battle royale.

I’m ready to burst into the Ohio Stadium press box blaring Nazareth’s “Hair Of The Dog” from a boom box to pump myself up pregame. That’s admittedly ridiculous considering I’m just there to tap some letters on a keyboard, but these games don’t come around every day, every week, every year, or at Indiana, ever.

It’s the beginning of the week, so perhaps I should chill out a couple of notches. But it’s hard not to get pumped up.

Indiana will test its mettle in one of the most iconic venues in college football with the whole nation watching. There will be no more ambiguity about how legitimate the Hoosiers are in the national context. A win at Ohio State will burnish their bona fides, even among doubters, once and for all.

There are question marks, legitimate ones I think, about who Indiana has beaten, but that’s what makes this so great. The parsing of resumes, strength of schedule and margin of victories can be shoved into the trash. Indiana’s worthiness will be decided on the field as it should be.

How monumental is this game in the historical context? Without question, it’s on the Mount Rushmore of the biggest regular season games in Indiana history.

Off the top of my head, Indiana’s 1967 home finale against Purdue, the 1987 road game at Michigan State and the 2020 game at Ohio State join Saturday’s contest as the biggest four regular season games in Indiana football history. A Big Ten title, or least the inside track toward it, was on the line in each of those games.

This game might be bigger, however, due to the expanded College Football Playoff.

I really don’t understand traditional-minded fans who think the college football regular season has been devalued because of the 12-team field. The notion that contention in a season is over due to a single loss. I think regular season games have been enhanced immensely – and without watering down the value of the conference races in the bargain.

Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) passes the ball for a touchdown in the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

That’s not to say Indiana’s 2024 season wouldn’t have been less exciting if it was played in the environment of any of those previous eras – of course it would have been. The College Football Playoff just adds a bit more frosting to the cake.

To say nothing of the fact, that no sober observer of college football in their right mind would have predicted this level of success for the Hoosiers before the season. Perhaps trying to explain it kind of misses the point of the sheer wonderment it deserves.

Understandably, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti – rightfully lauded as the architect of this barely believable season – is not going to be goaded into smelling the roses or firing up his metaphorical boom box like I might. It’s his job to keep the Hoosiers grounded, not to start offering up huzzahs before their time.

“It’s a big game because it’s the next game,” Cignetti said on his radio show Thursday. “Every game is the only game coming up and that makes it a big game, but what happens is, you become successful, then the meanings of the next games becomes bigger.”

If I were Curt Cignetti, I’d probably be projecting the same attitude. Keep the pedal to the metal. Focus on the micro, not the macro. Act like you’ve been there before.

That’s cool, but I’m not Curt Cignetti and neither are you. He’s getting paid very, very well to manage this situation. We get the luxury of enjoying the ride.

A ride that has taken Indiana to a place it has never been before. There’s a time and a place for everything, and now would be a great time to freak out with unbridled jubilation.

I defer to what Indiana fans are undoubtedly experiencing. I can only imagine what this must feel like to Hoosiers fans who previously considered bowl eligibility to be the ceiling of this program. I’d be climbing the walls. I’d be like Shooter in the hospital at the end of “Hoosiers” yelling hosannahs to no one in particular about Curt Cignetti, Kurtis Rourke and Mikail Kamara.

I wouldn’t be self-aware in the slightest about any of it. Don’t be inhibited. Leave that to the coaches and players who have a job to do.

Your job as a fan is to live in this moment. Open your heart, allow it to possibly be broken, but with the equal possibility of having it filled with every dream of success you’ve ever had for Indiana football.

At its core, being a sports fan is about the elation and pride in those rare moments when everything comes together for your favorite team. So feel this to the hilt.

This, my friends, is what you’ve been waiting for your whole life. Are you ready? Are you ready to embrace the enormity of this game and bask in this moment of glory?

My goodness, it’s only the beginning of the week. How the heck is this going to feel on Saturday?

I can’t wait to find out.

Related stories on Indiana football

• WHAT CIGNETTI SAID: Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti spoke to the media on Monday ahead of Saturday's game at Ohio State. CLICK HERE

• CIGNETTI AGREES TO NEW CONTRACT: Curt Cignetti’s new contract includes an average annual compensation of $8 million and an extension through the 2032 season. CLICK HERE

• INDIANA CFP SCENARIOS: What is the road ahead for the Hoosiers and the College Football Playoff? CLICK HERE.