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When Scott Caulfield used to take his son to games at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, he hoped he would take his father’s advice and not follow in his footsteps as an Indiana University football fan.
“I had decided that I was going to take him down to the flags at the stadium and tell him, ‘Pick a different flag, and that’s your new college football team,’” remembered Caulfield, an IU graduate and co-host of the popular CrimsonCast podcast, which focuses heavily on the football program.
“I went to IU, so this is my lot in life—don’t live like me,” Caulfield said he warned his son. “Hell, even Northwestern or Purdue have gone to a Rose Bowl [in my lifetime]. Every other team has their day in the sun, but [Indiana is] not going to have it.”
Well, the sun is certainly shining now for the Hoosiers.
Even after Saturday’s loss to second-ranked Ohio State, Indiana is enjoying its best season (10-1) in the program’s 137-year existence. Through hosting Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” and ESPN’s “College GameDay” in back-to-back weeks, and being at the top of the national conversation, Indiana University has seen its profile rise significantly.
Curt Cignetti, IU’s cocksure first-year head coach who has transformed a moribund operation in mere months, has been profiled by every college football media outlet known to mankind, espousing his confidence in a program that seemingly no one had ever believed in. Even sitting U.S. senators (yes, really) are complaining about the Hoosiers’ stunning success on the gridiron, underlining the insanity of Indiana’s storybook autumn.
If you would’ve posed any of these current scenarios to anyone back in August, much less a die-hard IU football fan, they would’ve laughed you out of the room. But entering the regular-season finale against rival Purdue, even a national championship is still on the table for Indiana.
“When people were talking about the College Football Playoff in the middle of the season, I just thought to myself, ‘No way,’” said Andrew Smith, who has been pining for a season like this one while attending IU football games for almost 40 years. “The hope used to be that maybe [IU] would win six games and go to a bowl game, but this year they just keep winning and looking really good doing so, and all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘This may really happen.’”
While 10 wins might not sound like much to college football’s bluebloods, who roll out of bed each August and churn out double-digit-win seasons and contend for conference crowns, it’s incredibly meaningful for the losingest program in major college football history.
In fact, Indiana (719 all-time losses) just flipped the historical script by beating the sport’s winningest program in Michigan (1,009 all-time wins) earlier this month. The team’s high-water mark of No. 5 in the national polls was topped only once previously, way back in the 1967 season, when IU reached No. 4 before the program’s only Rose Bowl appearance, against O.J. Simpson and the eventual national champion USC Trojans. The Hoosiers have also defeated both participants from last January’s national championship game— Michigan and Washington, even though both teams lost a healthy chunk of their talent from a season ago—and pulverized former power Nebraska, crushing the Cornhuskers by seven touchdowns.
Depths of the valley
It would be easy to make a laundry list of the historical accomplishments of the 2024 football Hoosiers entering the regular-season’s final week, but the peaks enjoyed so far cannot be fully appreciated until you consider the depths of the valleys for those who remained loyal down in Bloomington.
“I was at the 2005 opener against Nicholls State when they ran for 400 yards against IU,” said Kyle Robbins, a season-ticket holder who attributes his love for IU football mainly to the fact that he enjoys being a contrarian. “This was right after [Hurricane] Katrina, and they didn’t even have jerseys! We had to give them ones to wear.”
“We won that game [Indiana hung on for a 35-31 win over the then-FCS-level Colonels], but all the years I sat through getting my hopes up for the smallest glimpse of anything—the Nicholls State-type teams, multiple losses to Central Michigan, pouring-down rain in front of maybe 20,000 people and losing to Minnesota—I just wanted to be excited about something.”
For a fan base that has been beaten down so much over the years, suffering dozens of blowout losses and embarrassing defeats, rising to life like this has never been the expectation. You could say, “What is dead may never die!”—a slogan popularized by the “Game of Thrones” TV series—might as well apply to Indiana football fans, too.
A 30-game losing skid to Big Ten superpower Ohio State? That hardly registers when you consider IU football fans have sat through a bowl-victory drought that dates back to December 1991 (the nation’s longest current streak). Do you think their history or recruiting rankings being belittled by SEC media or fans on the internet phases IU fans? These folks once witnessed a 52-27 lead collapse in one quarter against perennial lightweight Rutgers and saw their Hoosiers drop 24 of 27 conference games to end Tom Allen’s crumbling tenure.
Indiana football fans can’t be ridiculed. They can’t be embarrassed. Like, they don’t already know they’re the losingest major program in the sport’s history? They’ve already lived through the worst of it. The fans are aware of it all—yet absolutely none of it matters to any of them in this moment.
Despite their inevitable drop in the newly expanded College Football Playoff rankings, Indiana still entered the week with a 98% playoff probability, according to ESPN’s All-State Playoff Predictor. While the committee will undoubtedly ding the Hoosiers for their lack of marquee victories in this historic season, they have given IU credit for passing the eye test with flying colors so far. Through 11 games, Indiana’s scoring margin ranks fifth nationally (over 20 points per game), and that includes Saturday’s 32-point defeat in Columbus. IU has also avoided stubbing its toe against lesser teams, something that can’t be said for Southern counterparts like Alabama and Ole Miss.
Up the mountain
It has shaken up the status quo of the sport, but at the black-tie College Football Playoff party normally exclusive to bluebloods like Alabama, Ohio State and Georgia, Indiana fans have pulled up to the valet in crimson hoodies and candy-stripe pants.
Maybe they won’t stay long. Hell, maybe they won’t be admitted to the party at all. But just making the entryway shows how far this program has come. And playoff or not, the fans who have been through it all are ready for whatever comes.
“You only get to go up the mountain once,” Caulfield said. “[In the future], something like a 6-6 season suddenly becomes a major letdown. That’s what’s so special about this year. It’s so fun to be on that upward climb that you weren’t expecting.”
In the wake of the 2020 season’s success immediately turning to dust, there have been questions as to how sustainable Indiana’s lightning-type success this season is moving forward. However, Indiana has legitimate commitment from the administration, continues to flex its NIL (name, image and likeness) fundraising muscle, and just handed a mega extension to further solidify Cignetti’s future. While annual playoff contention might not be a realistic bar—and that’s only the bar for a tiny handful of programs, anyway—Indiana’s sporting a successful and respected football program absolutely is.
“I don’t know if it repeats at this level, but I think the success is sustainable,” Robbins said. “Honestly, I may sound like I’m some stupid motivational speaker, but this season I have been very intentional about being present in the now.”
“It’s late November, and I haven’t thought about [Indiana head men’s basketball coach] Mike Woodson once. Do you know how awesome of a feeling that is?” joked Robbins.
Looking back there is heartbreak, and looking forward there are questions, but right now, for long-suffering IU football fans, perhaps their day in the sun has finally arrived.•
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From Peyton Manning’s peak with the Colts to the Pacers’ most recent roster makeover, Schultz has talked about it all as a sports personality in Indianapolis for more than 15 years. Besides his written work with IBJ, he’s active in podcasting and show hosting. You can follow him on X @Schultz975.
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