Indiana football is 11-0 in 2025 following Saturday’s 31-7 win over Wisconsin on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana.
The final score is certainly what we’ve come to expect from the Hoosiers,
but the first half was a far cry from the final result. Wisconsin found some early success playing its game of keeping the ball on the ground and grinding out the clock to keep the ball away from Fernando Mendoza and the Indiana’s potent offense. Said offense struggled to turn drives into points when it got the ball, usually tripping up on later downs or letting too much pressure get to Mendoza.
Wisconsin was threatening to make this a second consecutive close game for Indiana, which went into halftime with a 10-7 lead. Coming out of the locker room to open the second half and getting put in third and long after two runs went nowhere, the Hoosiers needed a response. Charlie Becker delivered.
The Hoosiers found the endzone not long after. They did so two more times to build up their lead while preventing Wisconsin from ever cutting into it.
It’s worth noting that the Badgers lost running back Gideon Ituka, who’d found some success on the ground to that point, to injury during the third quarter. Both teams took a knee as the cart was brought out for Ituka, who gave a double thumbs-up as he was driven off the field. Wisconsin’s struggles were worse after his departure.
Mendoza, facing pretty consistent pressure, managed to complete 22 of his 24 attempts through the air for four touchdowns without a single turnover despite being sacked five times. The pressure he faced was a combination of issues along the line and holding onto the ball for a bit too long, but when he got the ball out it almost always found his receivers’ hands.
All things considered, Saturday’s win was a bit of a weird one. Indiana will head into the bye week looking to get healthy before making the short trip up north to face rival Purdue in West Lafayette.
