What does No. 11 Indiana do for an encore after playing a near-flawless game last week in a 63-10 destruction of then-No. 9 Illinois?
According to second-year coach Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers’ trip to face Big Ten rival Iowa Saturday will be a more difficult challenge than facing a top 10 foe.
“And the sooner our guys realize that, the better,” he said.
Some might have seen Cignetti’s assertion that Iowa will be a tougher game than Illinois as a shot fired either at the Fighting Illini, who showed practically zero fight for most of the last three quarters, or the pundits who thought they would win.
It’s also the truth, simply because it’s hard to imagine that Indiana (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), even as good as it has looked so far, is going to be 53 points better than the Hawkeyes (3-1, 1-0) in Iowa City. All that crowd noise that boosted the Hoosiers to levels Illinois simply couldn’t match will be working in Iowa’s favor.
This is Indiana’s first road game of the season. Can the Fernando Mendoza-led offense function in one of the league’s louder venues? Will the Hoosiers be able to play their usual air-tight brand of football that Cignetti has established?
“It’s a tough place to play,” he said of Kinnick Stadium. “They sell out almost every Saturday. It’s loud. … Obviously, it will be a big point of emphasis this week in practice. I’m not going to tell you what we will do.”
If Mendoza keeps playing at his current level, Cignetti could give the Hawkeyes the playbook and it might not matter. Mendoza was 21 of 23 for 267 yards and five touchdowns against the Illini, making him 76 of 99 (76.8 percent, second-best among all FBS QBs) for 975 yards with an FBS-leading 14 passing touchdowns and no interceptions this season.
While Indiana is clicking in all facets, Iowa is coming off an encouraging 38-28 win at Rutgers in its conference opener on Sept. 19. Mark Gronowski ran for three touchdowns and threw for 186 yards in his best performance of the year.
The South Dakota State transfer, who led the Jackrabbits to 2022 and 2023 FCS titles, struggled to get the passing game going in the first two games. He connected on just 21 of 39 attempts for 127 yards in a blowout win over FCS foe Albany and a loss at Iowa State.
But he’s looked more like himself in the last two games, giving Hawkeye fans hope they might finally have a competent offense to go along with their usually stingy defense and solid special teams.
“I think with each week, he’s more and more comfortable running the offense and leading the team out there,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz. “It’s been good to watch him grow confidence. We’re not surprised by that.
“He’s just a really high-quality guy. But you can’t overstate the importance of practice and repetition. I think that’s really, really important for him.”
It doesn’t hurt that the Hawkeyes are averaging 200.5 rushing yards per game, led by six touchdowns from Gronowski and an FBS-best 88.2 run-blocking grade according to Pro Football Focus.
Iowa owns a 46-28-4 lead in the all-time series, including a 34-6 win in the last meeting in 2021.
