Indiana football’s historic season was full of memorable moments.
The Hoosiers captured their first-ever national championship and became the first team since the 1890s to finish 16-0. The Daily Hoosier has compiled our list of the top 10 plays and moments from IU’s march to the title. If you missed any previous posts in this series, check them out at the links below.
No. 7: “CHARLIE B.! FROM NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE!”
After Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding’s shocking miss on a 27-yard field-goal attempt, Indiana took over possession sitting 2:48 away from a Big Ten championship.
But the Hoosiers weren’t over the line yet. Ohio State still had all three timeouts remaining, along with the two-minute warning. IU needed two first downs to be able to run out the clock, and a three-and-out would’ve left the Buckeyes with plenty of time to get back in field goal range.
So while Indiana was in a favorable position, it still left head coach Curt Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, and the team in a tricky situation.
They called run plays for Kaelon Black on first and second down, with OSU taking timeouts after both plays.
Cignetti knew what he wanted to dial up next.
“I wasn’t going to play not to lose. We were playing to win,” Cignetti said after the game. “I wasn’t going to punt the ball back to them with two minutes to go and no timeouts.”
Fernando Mendoza caught the snap on third-and-6, took a three-step drop, and fired a dart over the top towards Charlie Becker on the right side. The sophomore had a one-on-one matchup against Ohio State’s Jermaine Mathews Jr., and Becker had about a half-step advantage on his man around six yards ahead — right at the first-down marker — when Mendoza threw the ball.
The pass dropped in perfectly for Becker nearly 30 yards downfield, and the Nashville, Tenn. native made a spectacular leaping catch that gave IU a first down.
“We had to give our guys an opportunity to make plays,” Cignetti said. “We were getting on top of them at certain points in that game, and Fernando was throwing great deep balls. And it was a great play.”
That play didn’t completely put the game away for the Hoosiers. They ran it with Black on three straight plays after that, and then they had to punt it away from the Ohio State 38-yard line. But the Buckeyes had only 18 seconds to work with, no timeouts, and a long way to go from their own 14-yard line.
But Becker’s catch put Indiana on the doorstep of its first-ever Big Ten title, setting the stage for what the team would accomplish in the College Football Playoff.
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