Friday is full of firsts.
The first look at the new 12-team College Football Playoff. The first on-campus CFP game. And Indiana football’s first appearance in the CFP.
After finishing the regular season a program-best 11-1 with its only loss coming to then-No. 2 Ohio State on Nov. 23, No. 10 Indiana earned a berth in the CFP and a date with No. 7 University of Notre Dame.
On the outside, it’s the Hoosiers’ biggest game in program history against a historic in-state blue blood program in the Fighting Irish. But not on the inside.
“I think to me and our guys, in my mind, it's just another game,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said during a press conference Monday. “You prepare for this one like you prepare for all of them. I think for our players, they're going to be excited to play and excited to prove something.”
While in actuality it may be just another game, it holds much more importance than one of the 12 regular-season games. The Hoosiers and the Fighting Irish haven’t squared off since 1991, and the former hasn’t beaten the latter in South Bend, Indiana, since 1898 — the first ever matchup between the two programs.
With a loss, the Hoosiers’ season would come to an end. So too would players’ careers, like sixth-year senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke and fifth-year senior running back Justice Ellison.
But Rourke said Tuesday during a press conference that he’ll “talk about (his) last college game in four games,” insinuating Indiana will play in the College Football Playoff National Championship Jan. 20 in Atlanta.
For the Hoosiers to win and advance to the CFP Quarterfinals in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against the University of Georgia on Jan. 1 in New Orleans, they’ll have to contain the Fighting Irish’s potent rushing attack. Led by sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love and senior quarterback Riley Leonard, Notre Dame averages 224.8 rushing yards per game.
Love has rushed for 949 yards and 15 touchdowns while Leonard, who transferred from Duke University last offseason, has accumulated 721 yards on the ground alongside 14 rushing touchdowns. With Leonard used as a runner, it makes the Fighting Irish’s offense even more dangerous.
“Nothing can fully help plus one run game like a quarterback that's simply going to run the ball with a lead-blocking running back,” Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines said Monday. “There's only so many things you can do to account for that. You got to use all 11. They use all 11 of theirs. We've got to use all 11 of ours.”
Indiana junior linebacker Aiden Fisher said there’s something defensive players do wrong in terms of trying to bring Leonard to the ground.
“A lot of people take really bad angles on him,” Fisher said in a press conference Tuesday. “Some people just think he's slower than he is just based off his position but he's a really good athlete. Just got to make sure we take good angles to him and once we get to him, make him pay the price for carrying the ball.”
And when the Hoosiers do manage to tackle Leonard, Haines wants them to make him “pay a toll every time.”
Prior to Friday, Ohio State was the only ranked team Indiana faced off against in the regular season. And while they fell 38-15, the Hoosiers’ loss came largely because of self-inflicted wounds. Senior punter James Evans dropped a snap, which led to a Buckeyes’ touchdown and Ohio State safety Caleb Downs returned a punt for a touchdown.
The Hoosiers also frequently blew pass protection assignments that ultimately led to the Buckeyes sacking Rourke five times.
“I think we left some things out there at Ohio State, and things that have been corrected, and so going into Notre Dame, we're really just looking forward to executing at our level and the way that we know how to,” Rourke said.
The 105,751 fans in attendance at Ohio Stadium made for a hostile environment — the first on the road Indiana endured this season — and played a role in the loss.
While Notre Dame Stadium holds a capacity of 80,795 fans, the Hoosiers are now experienced in handling a daunting road crowd and feel they are better prepared for it.
“But I think our guys have learned from that too and we'll be better in a hostile environment than we were that particular day,” Cignetti said. “At the end of the day, it's just football. The game is going to be won or lost between the white lines.”
A win could propel Indiana further into national prominence as it would mark it first postseason victory since it defeated Baylor University in the 1991 Copper Bowl.
But at the end of the day, the in-state CFP First Round matchup is just like any other game this season, according to the Hoosiers.
“Going into this game, it's no different than the Ohio State game,” Fisher said. “It's a big game, one with obvious, huge implications, but at the end of the day, it's just another game we have to prep for like we did the past 12 games.”
The two squads are slated to kick off at 8 p.m. inside Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. ESPN’s College GameDay will be set up outside the stadium with the show beginning at 3:30 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN and ABC with Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy on the call.
“I want them to go out there, fly around, have a little swag,” Cignetti said, “and play the way we can play.”
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
