No. 2 Indiana pursuing bigger goals after retaining Old Oaken Bucket at Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher walked across the field Friday night, carrying the prized Old Oaken Bucket following a 56-3 rout of Purdue.

It was a muted public celebration, and with good reason. There’s still work — much more work — for the second-ranked Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten, No. 2 CFP) to do.

But inside the locker room, it was a different story.

“There’s a lot of celebrating going on in there right now,” coach Curt Cignetti said. “There’s a lot of cigars being smoked, and they’re having a good old time, but they also understand that they get to celebrate this win for 24 hours. This is something a lot of people probably thought couldn’t happen, and it just goes to show you when you have a commitment, a plan, and you have the right people in place, anything is possible.”

The two-year transformation from the Football Bowl Subdivision’s biggest loser to national championship contender has been mind-blowing. Three years ago, the Hoosiers were looking for someone — anyone — who could just get them back on the college football map, playing bowl games regularly.

Now, suddenly, they’re looking every bit like the nation’s No. 2 team. They have a quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, who is one of the Heisman Trophy frontrunners and in the discussion to be the top overall pick in April’s NFL draft. They shed the label of most losses in FBS history when Northwestern passed them earlier this season.

And one year after handing Purdue its worst loss in school history, 66-0, they dealt the Boilermakers (2-10, 0-9) their worst home loss in the Bucket series by rushing for 355 yards and five touchdowns.

“My job as a point guard and a leader of the offense is trying to facilitate the best way to get down the field and when you have guys like Roman (Hemby), KB (Kaelon Black), Khobe (Martin) and the elite offensive line in front of us, I think it’s just such a pleasure to just sit back there and not watch because I care about my fakes,” Mendoza said.

The result: These Hoosiers now own the distinction of producing the first perfect regular season in school history, the program’s first Big Ten championship game trip, a second straight perfect home record and helping Cignetti become the first Indiana coach since Bo McMillin in 1934-35 to win his first two games against the Boilermakers.

But Indiana insists that’s only the first part of the journey, and they’re not satisfied yet.

Next Saturday in Indianapolis, they’ll try to win their first conference crown since 1967 against No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Oregon or No. 15 Michigan. They’ll find out their opponent Saturday. Then it’s likely onto their second straight College Football Playoff appearance and the pursuit of the football program’s first national championship.

So nobody, least of all the blunt-talking Cignetti, is ready to take much time on what they’ve done this season or last.

“It’s not about me and we’ve got work to do,” Cignetti said, the emotion evident in his words. “Some day when I’m 80, sitting in a rocking chair, drinking a Coors Light, I’ll reflect on it. But we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

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