I’m gonna be honest. These newsletters might be getting a little repetitive. Over the course of the season, I have written multiple entries about the dominant Indiana Hoosiers. Last week, I wrote about the dominant Indiana Hoosiers. This week, I am writing about the dominant Indiana Hoosiers.

But you’re just going to have to deal with it. THE FORMERLY LOSINGEST TEAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL HISTORY is on one of the most dominant postseason runs we’ve ever seen. It’s a new, incredible story in a sport that churns out the same stuff year after year. Forgive me if I run it back a few times.

– Rodger Sherman

🍑 FIFTY 🍑 SIX 🍑 POINTS 🍑

Indiana, 56, Oregon, 22

What the hell are you supposed to do about these guys?

Indiana is immaculate. The Hoosiers are the Teach Tape All-Stars: Every play unfolds exactly as it was supposed to when the coaches drew it up. They don’t commit turnovers. They don’t commit penalties. They don’t miss tackles. They don’t drop passes. They don’t have miscommunications. They don’t take plays off. Their quarterback hits four NFL throws on you against tight coverage and then asks you to connect with him on LinkedIn after the game.

They dole out the worst beating of your season, perhaps your entire football career … and their coach is furious, looking like the damn auto repair shop guy just quoted him $600 for a job he knows he can do himself for $79 in parts.

— # (#)

I ask again: What the hell are you supposed to do about these guys?

When Indiana beat Alabama by 35 in the Rose Bowl — a phrase that would make anybody from 2015’s head explode — it felt like a story about Alabama, a deeply flawed team that had been blown out in the SEC Championship game, and whose playoff selection was ridiculed.

But Oregon? It had been consistent throughout the season and had just crushed a quality Texas Tech squad into a fine paste the week before. It only had one loss all season … a close one against this Indiana team. The Ducks’ coaching staff, one of the finest in America, had three months to figure out how to prevent that exact result from happening again.

And then Indiana beat Oregon by thirty-four. (And it should’ve been 41, but Oregon threw a garbage time TD to a depth chart tight end with 22 seconds left.) The Ducks were bamboozled from the opening kick, outmatched on offense, defense, and special teams.

Let’s run down some Hoosier facts.

Indiana’s wins over Alabama and Oregon are the fourth- and sixth-biggest blowouts in the 51 College Football Playoff games played to this point.
Indiana has now outscored its opponents by 473 points this season, the most by any team in the College Football Playoff era. It still has one game to go.
Ohio State outscored opponents by 70 points in four Playoff games during its dominant championship run last season; Indiana has now outscored opponents by 69 points in two Playoff games.
Indiana is now 15-0, matching a handful of champions from the four-team playoff era. If it wins the national championship, it will be the first 16-0 team since Yale in 1894.
On top of all this, we have to remember: Indiana has 714 all-time losses, the second-most of any program in college football history.

This Indiana football season feels like if Cinderella got hold of a chainsaw: simultaneously a fairytale and a horror movie. The story has never unfolded like this before, but the finale is coming up and it feels like we know exactly what’s going to happen. It sure would suck to be one of those stepsisters right now.

Pay Your Hoosier Greatness Tax Here

Oh no! You just bought a beautiful Indiana Rose Bowl shirt from our friends at Homefield Apparel, but the blood of Indiana’s victims splattered everywhere and ruined it! (So inconsiderate of them!)

Good news: Homefield Apparel has produced Indiana national championship appearance merchandise, Indiana Peach Bowl champion merchandise, Indiana Peach Bowl appearance merchandise, Indiana Rose Bowl champion merchandise, Indiana Rose Bowl appearance merchandise, Indiana College Football Playoff appearance merchandise, Indiana Big Ten champion merchandise, and Indiana Big Ten Championship Game appearance merchandise. And they may still have one more shirt to print.

The U is Beck!

Miami, 31, Ole Miss, 27

Oh, yeah, that’s right! There are two teams in the national championship game!

If this were almost any other year, I would be unable to shut up about the return of the Miami Hurricanes to national prominence. For about two decades, we had to pretend that this once-elite program had vestigial swagger because of things like the Turnover Chain. Now we have Malachi Toney dancing his way into the end zone in a CFP semifinal.

What impressed me the most about Miami’s 31-27 win in the Fiesta Bowl was how it overcame its flaws. Miami’s biggest weakness this season has been its sub-par run game. Entering the College Football Playoff, it averaged 150 yards per game on 4.18 yards per carry — 80th and 84th in FBS, respectively. Per Gameonpaper.com, the Canes rank 105th in EPA per rush and 79th in rushing success rate.

On Thursday night, they ground Ole Miss into dust with 191 rushing yards on 51 carries. They surpassed their season average in rushing yards for a third straight game. You’re not supposed to do that in the Playoff!

Miami’s biggest red flag heading into the postseason was perhaps the inconsistent play of Carson Beck, who threw game-losing interceptions in both of Miami’s losses this season.

Beck has been clean through three games. He threw his first pick of the Playoff on Thursday night, and it came off a deflection. Then he had the composure to scramble for the game-winning score. (Including the Spanish call below because why not.)

— # (#)

And last, BUT EXTREMELY NOT LEAST, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal has become infamous for poor clock management and decision-making, including one instance when Miami lost a game it could have ended just by kneeling the ball. But he’s managed back-to-back-to-back games very well. I thought Miami’s final drive to whittle away almost all of the remaining clock was exceptional (until Ole Miss almost scored a game-winning touchdown in 18 seconds, but whatever.)

Impressive growth from a team that in recent years seemed like it couldn’t get out of its way. Unfortunately, I just heard a revving noise and Cinderella looks angry.

The College Football Game of the Year

Montana State, 35, Illinois State, 34

Here is what’s great about college football: I am not a fan of Montana State or Illinois State. I’ve never been to Bozeman, Montana or Normal, Illinois. To the best of my knowledge, I know one person who went to either school.

And yet, watching the FCS championship game between the Bobcats and Redbirds, I felt dozens of emotions, including but not limited to: joy, bewilderment, horror, pathos, and pain. Here is the highlight video. It is 18 minutes long and it could be longer:

This game was a college football saga. I am just going to relay the events of the final quarter or so:

Setting the scene: Illinois State was a heavy underdog on a miracle run. ESPN’s Bill Connelly estimated that the Redbirds had a 0.3 percent chance of even making the national championship game. They had to beat Southeastern Louisiana, DEFENDING NATIONAL CHAMPION #1 NORTH DAKOTA STATE, UC-Davis, and Villanova, all on the road. I am a road trip expert and I could not handle a Louisiana-North Dakota-California-Pennsylvania road trip. They were the first team ever to win four road games in the FCS playoffs, and the first unseeded team to beat a #1 in tournament history.
And Montana State, one of the best teams all season long, led 21-7 at halftime. Game over.
But Illinois State found its footing in the second half. It went on touchdown drives of 85, 81, and 60 yards. It leaned on Montana State, and Montana State’s defense couldn’t hold up.
One problem: Montana State kept answering back with remarkable touchdowns featuring hurdles and jukes.
We got back-to-back spectacular touchdowns from ISU’s Dylan Lord and MSU’s Taco Dowler. A Lord vs. Taco showdown, potentially answering Homer Simpson’s question about whether God could microwave a burrito so hot He Himself couldn’t eat it.
But the Redbirds got the stops they needed. They were driving with a chance to win. They hadn’t been stopped in two hours. They were gonna do it.
And then … their game-winning field goal … blocked. No chance.
We were officially in the Ridiculous Football Zone.
Montana State got the ball back. Now the Bobcats was driving for the game-winning field goal. Then they misfired a snap for a 20-yard loss. Overtime.
Illinois State continued to be unstoppable. It immediately got into the end zone.
And then their extra point … also blocked.
On the blocked extra point, we saw something I have never seen in all my years of watching football. The kicker committed a facemask penalty and the referee announced that “by rule, the penalty is declined.” Turns out that’s the right call. In overtime, when there’s a change of possession, any penalty by the team that began the play on offense is declined by rule. Even as someone who seeks out weird football scenarios, I had no idea.
We had exited the Ridiculous Football Zone and entered terra nullius, a land with no laws.
Montana State could now win with a touchdown and an extra point. But Illinois State was on the verge of a game-winning stop, forcing a do-or-die fourth-and-10.
AND ILLINOIS STATE BLITZED SEVEN GUYS
AND MONTANA STATE’S QB THREW A GAME-WINNING TOUCHDOWN WHILE RUNNING AWAY FROM THOSE SEVEN GUYS
And then the game-winning, championship-sealing play: an extra point. Montana State hit it.

Congrats to Montana State on its first championship since 1981 … and ILLINOIS STATE! YOU POOR THINGS!

The Redbirds were about to complete what I would have considered the greatest postseason run in college football history. They had destiny on their side. They had all the momentum. They were pounding the ball right in Montana State’s face.

And then … it was over. Gone. Ripped asunder by the slings and arrows of outrageous special teams play. It’s hard to imagine that they’ll ever get this close to a title again. They’re in the toughest conference in the sport, and there seems to be a clear divide between the top level of FCS and everybody else. They had the trophy in their hands, and couldn’t get a field goal over the line. I want to buy a beer for 1,000 Illinois State fans, or 1,000 beers for one Illinois State fan.

Normally this is where I write about other games but … well, there aren’t many at this point in the year! So we are simply going to congratulate UW-River Falls on its first ever Division III championship:

River Falls had 19 consecutive losing seasons from 2001 to 2019. From 2010 to 2013 it went 4-36, which included an 0-10 season. And the Falcons just won the national championship over North Central, a legitimate dynasty that had three titles in its last six seasons. North Central is now 58-2 under head coach Brad Spencer, with the two losses in the 2023 championship game and the 2025 championship game. Cruel!

Like I said, these newsletters are a bit repetitive, but I am once again dropping in my video about Indiana football, and how the losingest team of all time became the second-losingest team of all time. (And maybe the national champion.)