The 19 Numbers That Explain National Champion Indiana’s Rise on the Football Field ...Middle East

Traditionally a basketball school, Indiana’s national title on the gridiron was indeed shocking. But these numbers should explain a lot about how the Hoosiers got here. 

The Indiana football Hoosiers are the champions of college football and a new entrant to the sport’s “greatest team ever” debate.

I don’t think they’d beat 2019 LSU on a neutral field, but when assessing greatness, an undefeated season in a moment of immense parity is hard to dismiss out of hand. 

It would be easy to say that the Hoosiers defy explanation.

That’s not quite right, though. Their rise was indeed shocking, but these 19 numbers should explain a lot about how they got here. 

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77

The difference in listed poundage between Indiana cornerback D’Angelo Ponds and Miami tight end Alex Bauman. Ponds (5-foot-9, 173 pounds) destroyed the 6-5, 250-pound Bauman with a clean shoulder shot on Monday. The tiny All-American corner, who followed Curt Cignetti from James Madison, is a good avatar for this Indiana team: Under-recruited but by no means under-talented.  

Could watch this over and over. Indiana CB D’Angelo Ponds took over the College Football Playoffs! CB1 pic.twitter.com/JxJeOjWGfY

56.2%

Indiana’s third-down conversion percentage. That ranked first in the country, about three percentage points ahead of Ohio State. The Hoosiers also chipped in a 10-of-18 performance on fourth downs, saving two of those conversions for the fourth quarter of the title game. The defining play of their season was Fernando Mendoza’s 12-yard keeper for a touchdown, which came on a fourth down just a few minutes after he found Charlie Becker on a back-shoulder ball to keep the drive alive. 

5.5

Indiana’s average yards to gain on third downs. Conversion on money downs is only possible at Indiana’s scale if those downs aren’t that difficult in the first place. No team had as short an average third-down distance as the Hoosiers did, and that’s a testament to the offense’s ability to stay ahead of the chains. The title game was a bit of a different story, however. Indiana was 6-of-16 on third down and only had three conversion opportunities of 3 yards or less. It converted two of them and failed on another when star wideout Elijah Sarratt made an uncharacteristic drop. But the Hoosiers got the conversions when they needed to by expanding their opportunities into fourth downs. 

85.6%

The well-thrown rate of Fernando Mendoza. That was fourth in the country, but what I find so interesting about it is how Mendoza managed that rhythmic passing performance while still making time to be a factor with his legs. His 6.9-yard average on scrambles was roughly twice what most quarterbacks in the top 10 in well-thrown rate posted. Mendoza was an adept improviser who never lost touch with the fundamental job of quarterbacking: accuracy. 

27.8%

The team-leading pressure rate of JMU transfer Mikail Kamara, who was the defensive star of the title game. Kamara went from 10.0 sacks for the Hoosiers in 2024 to 7.0 this year, as he dealt with both injuries and Indiana’s decision to move him to the interior of the line sometimes. But Kamara remained a pressure-generating force, and he showed up big-time in the championship game, repeatedly slipping Miami’s All-American right tackle Francis Mauigoa to generate run stuffs. Kamara’s biggest play, however, was a casual blocked punt that immediately became an IU touchdown. 

8

Blocked punts in two years under Cignetti. No other power-conference team has more than five. This year’s team had five, including two in this College Football Playoff and another in a close game at Iowa where the Hoosiers needed the boost. Indiana made a habit of winning at the margins. 

0

Blocked kicks or punts by Indiana’s opponents in that time. That’s the lowest number. 

2

Carries by Indiana’s tight end, Riley Nowakowski, this season. 

2

Rushing yards by Nowakowski.

2

Rushing touchdowns by Nowakowski.

Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan called a brilliant year of football. One especially nice touch? Lining up his tight end as a fullback in Week 2 against Kennesaw State for a 1-yard touchdown plunge, then not calling Nowakowski’s name again until he was coming out of a timeout and facing a third down at the goal line in the national championship game. Shrewd! 

23

Indiana’s average player age. The Hoosiers were an extremely old college football team, and that experience was good to them. Some people who point that out will do so to denigrate the team’s accomplishments. I will just point to it as an effective usage of the NCAA’s toothless eligibility restrictions, which have become more or less fake over the past half-decade. People will forget that the first win of Indiana’s season was the one in a courtroom back in August, when sixth-year safety Louis Moore won the chance to play another college season and make a few hundred thousand bucks in NIL money. 

230 and 186

The carry totals of running backs Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black, respectively. Indiana ran a true timeshare at running back, with Black putting up more efficient numbers (5.6 to 4.9 yards) and Hemby taking just a slightly larger load. Both looked fresh in the title game, even as Black again had the more productive outing. The rotation of carries served Indiana well. 

1

Indiana’s lost fumble total for the season. 

8

Indiana’s total fumbles for the season. The Hoosiers retained possession on seven of them. You make your own luck, and eight fumbles in 16 games are a tiny amount. (Just one team, UConn, fumbled less often on a per-game basis.) But three of Indiana’s close games this year (Penn State, Oregon the first time, and Iowa) involved the Hoosiers retaining possession after putting the ball on the ground. 

$25 million-ish

The amount I’ve been told Indiana spent on its roster this season, between House settlement money and external NIL dollars. Note: That’s not particularly close to the top of college football. Yeah, Indiana paid for a lot of players, but the idea that the Hoosiers’ title was the result of financially outgunning everyone else just doesn’t pass muster. Not that there’d be a problem with that. 

38.7

Indiana’s final TRACR, which uses advanced metrics and other factors to calculate how teams compare or compared to the league-average club during a given season. It’s basically how many points per 10 drives better or worse the team was to that average-club baseline. The Hoosiers’ TRACR was easily tops in the country this season and ranks 13th overall since 2012.

16 and 0

The only two numbers on this list that don’t need any explaining at all. 

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The 19 Numbers That Explain National Champion Indiana’s Rise on the Football Field Opta Analyst.

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