Todd’s Take: Maybe The Cartoon Anvil Isn’t Going To Drop On Indiana Football This Time?

Indiana football fans always seem to be waiting to have the rug pulled out from under them when success comes, but these Hoosiers are solid, grounded and set up for success.

Indiana Hoosiers tight end Zach Horton (44) carries the ball against the UCLA Bruins in the second half at Rose Bowl. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

PASADENA, Calif. – Although I’ve only covered Indiana football for two seasons in my current duties covering the Hoosiers, I’ve been around the state of Indiana for a long time. I moved to Indiana in 1986.

So I know full-well what the psyche of the typical Indiana football fan is.

Indiana fans are always hopeful. They pine for that day that will come that will finally establish themselves as a successful football school. When the Hoosiers show the tiniest sign of success? The fans are ready to believe this is going to be the time it lasts.

However, Indiana fans are also damaged by years of losing and false dawns. One can hardly blame Indiana fans for wondering when the other shoe is going to drop. After all, Indiana has the worst winning percentage of any Power Four conference school at .419.

The cartoon anvils have dropped on the Hoosiers like a steady fall rain. The Rose Bowl season for the 1967 Hoosiers is memorable, but it’s also notable for being an oasis of winning in an otherwise mediocre era.

Same for the 1979 Hoosiers under Lee Corso, who never replicated the same success before or afterwards. Bill Mallory was able to fend off the anvils in the late 1980s and early 1990s with actual sustained success, but it eventually faded.

Perhaps the worst cartoon anvil Indiana fans endured was in 2021. Indiana showed great promise under Tom Allen in the 2019 season and then followed it up with a very memorable 2020 campaign, one in which the Hoosiers contended for the Big Ten title.

Hopes were high in 2021, but Indiana crashed to a 2-10 record and Allen wasn’t able to get the ship righted in time to keep his job.

Those are just the most prominent examples. Other eras began with promise, but the relentless drumbeat of losing that haunts the Indiana program could not be shaken off.

So it’s no wonder that Indiana fans can be skeptical of small samples of success – as some fans undoubtedly were after the Hoosiers dominated two inferior foes to start the season. Indiana fans aren’t going to board the hype train when they’ve ridden off the rails in the past.

It’s only natural that a fair share of Indiana fans were going to reserve judgment until Indiana’s game at UCLA. While this isn’t a vintage Bruins team, at least Indiana could measure itself against a peer school.

What we found out on Saturday was that nothing about Indiana’s first two wins represented anything that wasn’t genuine. The Hoosiers dominated from the start in a comprehensive 42-13 victory over the stunned Bruins at the Rose Bowl.

Indiana was impressive in all of the right ways. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was a picture of calm. He completed 25 of 33 passes for 307 yards and four touchdown passes. His fellow Ohio University transfer, wide receiver Miles Cross, was equal parts spectacular and steady with 6 catches for 90 yards.

Defensively, Indiana was ultra-aggressive. That was born out in two targeting ejections and several personal fouls, but the Hoosiers left a mark on the Bruins they won’t soon forget. Indiana had two sacks, forced two turnovers and were just plain nasty.

It was the very definition of a solid win. Indiana moved the sticks, prevented UCLA from doing the same, and never looked rattled.

Whatever mental ju-jitsu Indiana coach Curt Cignetti performs on his team has had a remarkable effect. They don’t get fazed by the big moments, they don’t get overly impressed with themselves. They just go out and work.

With the grounding that has been preached to the Hoosiers, and with the skill Cignetti has amassed on the roster, this team seems cartoon anvil-proof.

I just don’t see Rourke, for example, suddenly losing his field sense, his touch on his passes and his mastery of Indiana’s RPO plays. I don’t see Elijah Sarratt, Myles Price or Miles Cross getting the dropsies. The offensive line, a question mark going into the season, has solidified into an asset.

Defensively, Indiana has to calibrate the toughness versus penalty factor, but the biggest contributors here – linebacker Aiden Fisher, linebacker Jailin Walker, defensive end Mikail Kamara, defensive tackle James Carpenter, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds – are all forged in winning ways they learned at James Madison.

They know how to win and their know-how has translated from the Sun Belt Conference to the Big Ten Conference.

UCLA Bruins quarterback Ethan Garbers (4) is tackled by Indiana Hoosiers defensive lineman James Carpenter (99) in the first half at Rose Bowl. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

These Hoosiers are rock-solid in their make-up – both in the X’s and O’s department and in their approach to games. Witness Cross’s words after he was asked about which of his highlight one-handed catches – one against Florida International, one against UCLA – was the better one.

“Both good. As long as we’re winning that’s all that matters,” Cross said. 

Things are looking very good for the Hoosiers. Charlotte comes to Bloomington at Noon ET next Saturday, a game the Hoosiers should control. After that? Indiana has a winnable home game against Maryland and another at Northwestern.

Indiana could be 6-0 by the time No. 23 Nebraska rolls into Memorial Stadium for Homecoming on Oct. 19.

What’s that? I’m getting ahead of myself? My optimism is going to bring down karmic consequences on the Hoosiers.

I’m not feeling it. Fear of the cartoon anvil is part of the Indiana psyche, but this might be the year where the Hoosiers slide out of harm’s way. This team is just too grounded and too talented to sink themselves. And it’s going to take some doing for an opponent to sink the Hoosiers.

Related stories on Indiana football

• INDIANA DEFEATS UCLA IN LARGEST BIG TEN ROAD WIN SINCE 2001: Indiana hammered UCLA 42-13 in the Rose Bowl. It was Indiana's biggest road win since 2001. CLICK HERE.

• WHAT CIGNETTI SAID: Read all of Indiana coach Curt Cignetti's comments after Indiana's 42-13 win over UCLA. CLICK HERE.

• LIVE BLOG: Read about Indiana's 42-13 win over UCLA as it unfolded. CLICK HERE.

• CROSS DOES IT AGAIN: Indiana wide receiver Miles Cross had a one-handed catch to keep a key Indiana series alive. Watch it here. CLICK HERE.