Big Bear Nolan's Blog

The No. 2 nationally ranked Indiana Hoosiers continued its undefeated campaign in 2025 with a 56-6 win over the UCLA Bruins. The upstart Hoosiers had an incredible 2024 with the new coach, Curt Cignetti. They once again proved they are here and for real with the win over UCLA. You could say that last season Indiana got lucky with an easy schedule but this season you cannot say that.

Already in 2025, Indiana smoked No. 9 Illinois in a 63-10 win at Bloomington earlier this season. Two weeks later, the Hoosiers went to Autzen Stadium to face the No. 3 Oregon Ducks and its great QB in Dante Moore. Indiana proceeded to beat the Ducks 30-20 on the road to jump up to a top three ranking in FBS.

Now today, (Oct. 25) the Hoosiers hosted a UCLA team that had a 3-4 record after winning its first three games with its interim head coach. UCLA’s offense also has been playing on fire led by transfer QB from Tennessee, Nico Lamaleava. When the Bruins traveled to Bloomington, Indiana absolutely proved why they were ranked No. 2 in the nation by beating the Bruins 56-6.

Indiana got another great performance from transfer QB Fernando Mendoza in the win. Mendoza went 15-22 for 168 yards and 3 touchdowns. Saturday was another case of Mendoza’s Heisman campaign in 2025. Mendoza has completed a total of 133 out of 181 passes this season. He has thrown for 1,755 yards and 21 touchdowns. The Junior also has a 73.5 completion percentage for an average of 9.7 yards per completion.

After this game, Indiana has road games at Maryland, Penn State and Purdue with a home game against Wisconsin remaining. The Terps hold the best record of the Hoosiers remaining four opponents with a 4-3 record. If Indiana can succeed during this stretch which it should, they will make the 2025 Big Ten Championship. Right now, they could be facing the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes who ended the Hoosiers undefeated season in 2024. Indiana is here. There is no reason to doubt that this team can make back to back College Football Playoff appearances in 2025.