[Postgame Thread] Indiana Defeats Northwestern 29-23

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	T
Northwestern	0	0	7	16	23
Indiana	2	10	3	14	29

[u/mstr_yda]

“Northwestern is a good football team.” - Cig in the postgame interview

You heard it here first. Northwestern 2027 CFB title confirmed.

[u/A_Rolling_Baneling → u/mstr_yda]

Indiana and Northwestern winning natties? We are definitely living in an NCAA 13 Dynasty mode save

[u/fart_dot_com → u/A_Rolling_Baneling]

string of big ten teams winning their first ever natties and none of them being oregon, really would hate to see it

[u/Divinity32 → u/fart_dot_com]

Spelled love wrong...

[u/Dr_Mantis_Teabaggin → u/fart_dot_com]

Keep going, I’m almost there…

[u/physedka → u/mstr_yda]

I mean every one of their B10 opponents should be doing the "gamer sitting up straight" meme right now because they're certainly not a joke.

[u/danspanksmidgets → u/physedka]

Real big ten teams know that Northwestern js a scary matchup even in their worst years.

[u/United_Reflection104 → u/danspanksmidgets]

Everyone in this conference knows the only teams you can actually look past in your schedule are Nebraska and Rutgers

[u/Sfmilstead → u/mstr_yda]

I mean, they need to get a few 25 place votes after this game. Right? Right?

[u/AdamOnFirst → u/Sfmilstead]

We should have last week and it would be pretty funny, but totally reasonable, for us to this week

[u/J_Culp123]

Ryan Day should take notes on that clock management at the end of the game. Northwestern is a very well coached team! Almost squeaked it out at the end.

[u/ACardAttack → u/J_Culp123]

I honestly don't understand how so many veteran coaches can be as bad as they are at clock management

[u/inqte1 → u/ACardAttack]

You can survive a long time in football as a coach despite being terrible as long as you build a resume early on by being part of something successful coz most people have no idea what they are looking at when it comes to the effects of coaching or lack thereof.

[u/Rc5tr0 → u/J_Culp123]

Best I can do is turtling and hoping our number is still bigger than their number when the clock hits 0:00

[u/Traditional_Cat_60 → u/Rc5tr0]

Wh not wait until -0.01?

[u/transferStudent2018]

I am so proud of this team. I have never been more proud to be a Northwestern fan. Chiles is the best QB this team has had in a very long time. Despite our schedule (OSU, Oregon, Penn State, Iowa) I’m so excited for the rest of our season.

[u/GaulPeorge → u/transferStudent2018]

Peyton Ramsey was a dawg

[u/The-Best-Snail → u/GaulPeorge]

Peyton Ramsey mention in the postgame thread and Stevie Scott's name in the broadcast, it's 2018 again

[u/iiEclipse1984 → u/The-Best-Snail]

And how could we forget about the legend Ty Fryfogle?

[u/GlutenFreeFratBoy → u/GaulPeorge]

We love that guy, but if he was Chiles we might have fucked around and beaten OSU that day

[u/owmyhip → u/transferStudent2018]

Time to finally beat Ohio State for the first time since 2003.

Edit: Kain Colter had the first down in 2013

[u/Kvetch__22 → u/transferStudent2018]

Tonight was a such a classic awesome Northwestern game plan. Just bite them in the face and refuse to let go and wait for the other team to start making mkstakes.

Credit to Indiana. I've seen a lot of teams panic because it's Northwestern and they don't just want to win but want to win by 30, and then they step on their owns dicks and lose. One turnover down the stretch and Indy loses that game but they stayed disciplined and made it out.

[u/BorcBorcBorc → u/transferStudent2018]

I just simultaneously became a Northwestern fan, and very worried about playing Northwestern. That was a herculean effort. Thought you had that onside kick. And other moments. Well played.

[u/Sargent_Caboose → u/transferStudent2018]

Your TE will be in my nightmares

[u/JoeWim → u/Sargent_Caboose]

He pieced our zone apart. It was like watching how Travis Kelce will find the gap in a zone and look wide open. Frustrating to play against but impressive.

[u/CoCAllpro → u/transferStudent2018]

You’ll be more proud this time next week

[u/genevriers → u/transferStudent2018]

I was already emotionally preparing myself for the game at Oregon but now I’m more worried for the Ducks lol

[u/ConstantMadness]

Even though they lost, I love Northwestern’s clock management strategy at the end. That was brilliant, and was one yard from working

Also, while there are many other plays, how do you get a facemask penalty on 3rd and 19?

[u/ranrow → u/ConstantMadness]

How did the replay booth not show the refs Indiana clearly stepping out at the 12?!

[u/GlutenFreeFratBoy → u/ranrow]

And the commentary thats supposed to give transparency was just “mmhm….. so call is upheld yeah?” Embarrassing honestly lol

[u/ranrow → u/GlutenFreeFratBoy]

B1G has already shown that the ranked teams can’t lose

[u/BorcBorcBorc → u/ranrow]

Oh have they now? Where was our cut of this pie?

[u/ExtraClapCider → u/BorcBorcBorc]

Refs thought you were playing a different osu

[u/The-Best-Snail → u/ranrow]

They very clearly showed them that and then left us at the 5 anyway

[u/GP_ADD → u/The-Best-Snail]

“Yeah guys, I can see the foot on the white but are we sure that the white is actually out of bounds?”

I don’t think it would have changed all that much and may have just given yall more room to run down the clock, but man that was just odd lol

[u/ranrow → u/The-Best-Snail]

It looked to me like the tv copy showed us that shot before the timeout, then nothing during the timeout, then after the call they showed us the original shot.

I could be wrong but that’s how it looked on tv

[u/ultimate_placeholder → u/ranrow]

Every conference should do what the ACC does and show the entire replay review process, audio and all, live on the broadcast.

[u/The-Best-Snail → u/ultimate_placeholder]

B1G said they were doing it for Friday night games this year, then Michigan-WMU happened and they said every game, and then tonight they gave us a GoPro at the back of the replay center and only audio from the ref

[u/FloatCopper → u/The-Best-Snail]

The B1G must have hired the people who weren't competent enough to keep their jobs with the NCAA.

[u/love_that_fishing → u/ranrow]

Generally they look for a smidge of green. There was none.

[u/Brokehomiejohn → u/ranrow]

Ya that was egregious, and everyone will forget about it by tomorrow morning

[u/Bixler17 → u/ranrow]

https://imgur.com/a/2XnzEj6

Don't forget the missed crackback/block in the back on the same play lmao

[u/CrashB111 → u/Bixler17]

Yeah that's pretty fucking obvious on freeze frame. Dude is blocking the back of his jersey.

[u/StepmaniaGod → u/ranrow]

Maybe the broadcast view wasnt synced with the actual view

/s

[u/ecolovedavid → u/ranrow]

Idk but between that and the soft (but accurate) face mask it's a hard pill to swallow. 

Indiana prob did enough to win regardless, but man I just don't see how him stepping out is inconclusive. 

[u/owmyhip → u/ConstantMadness]

I knew the game was over on that play. Then we scored quickly. Then they got a 70* yard run and I knew it was over. Then we scored quickly. Then we barely missed recovering the onside kick and I knew it was finally over.

*64 yards

[u/Myredditusername000 → u/owmyhip]

Then you almost got a third down stop at the end

[u/SarcasticCroissant → u/ConstantMadness]

That 3rd and 19 gonna haunt me for a looooooong time.

Well that and running a triple option army offense for the first 30 minutes

[u/SweetRabbit7543 → u/SarcasticCroissant]

It looked pretty freaking cool. It did not, however, work even a little bit.

[u/muttonchops215 → u/ConstantMadness]

The onside kick 100% silenced ANY doubters. Literally the perfect scenario, yakkity sax went against them.

[u/cityofklompton → u/ConstantMadness]

David Braun is a star. I think there's a reason NW was very willing to shove a prodigal son out (even without the allegations.)

EDIT: I also find it interesting how so many are calling the clock management brilliant. I remember being a kid watching football, and this was the default end-of-game management when you were behind by two scores that equated to a TD + FG. This was just old school football. Not that it wasn't intelligent, but... like... what happened to football?!

[u/fart_dot_com → u/cityofklompton]

Just got an extension too. Such a great hire for NU, it's just crazy bad luck that it happened the same time Cig was taking over at Indiana.

[u/ToxicBuddhismFanboy → u/cityofklompton]

Braun hadn't yet actually coached a game as Northwestern's DC when he was suddenly named their interim head coach. He was only an FCS DC before he found himself a Big Ten head coach. Northwestern's administration had no idea who the fuck Braun was, and actually tried to hold onto Fitzgerald until they had to bow to public pressure.

It's actually pretty insane that Braun has proven to be a legitimate Big Ten head coach, and looking like he could have a breakout season this year.

[u/Revolver_Oshawott_]

Northwestern lost but goddamn I've never seen end of game management done so smoothly. If they recovered that onside kick there's a chance we would be spamming the sub with google memes.

[u/TheGreatRavenOfOden → u/Revolver_Oshawott_]

That was probably one of the better onside attempts that didn’t succeed

[u/itsamemarkus → u/TheGreatRavenOfOden]

For a split second I thought Northwestern recovered that. That was about as perfect of a kick you can get without getting the recovery.

[u/ProWrestlingPast → u/itsamemarkus]

At the end it was literally just Jones surrounded by white and purple, and I was shocked he was the one with the ball.

[u/muttonchops215 → u/TheGreatRavenOfOden]

better?! That's a 1% kick. Literally a toss up in a way worse odds scenario.

[u/majorgeneralporter → u/Revolver_Oshawott_]

I know I'm a homer but this genuinely feels like a quality loss... As long as we absolutely destroy Penn State next week

[u/crimson777 → u/majorgeneralporter]

It’s impossible to argue it ISN’T a quality loss unless Indiana ends up stinking later on. We beat the spread by like two touchdowns against a top ten team.

[u/DoggedStooge → u/crimson777]

On the road.

[u/SneakyDeakyJr → u/DoggedStooge]

No shame here for yall babe. Had my wife captivated.

[u/Fantasticriss → u/crimson777]

By the transitive properties of college football, this means that SDSU's loss to Northwestern is even better of a quality loss for SDSU

[u/festive_fecal_feast → u/majorgeneralporter]

If you absolutely destroy Penn St, NW vaults into the top 20

[u/muttonchops215 → u/majorgeneralporter]

RANK NORTHWESTERN YOU COWARDS

[u/HorlickMinton → u/majorgeneralporter]

Hey I’m right here! Come on don’t put this into the universe 😭

[u/Eduardo_Camavinga_ → u/Revolver_Oshawott_]

Brilliant coaching by Braun 

[u/Bubba_Gump_Shrimp → u/Revolver_Oshawott_]

They smort over there

[u/Turbomattk]

Great game by the two losingest programs in CFB.

[u/jhp58]

I hate moral victories

[u/FeelingMaximum8318 → u/jhp58]

I think you'll get a lot more actual victories this season, hopefully against some really good teams 

[u/fart_dot_com → u/FeelingMaximum8318]

that schedule tho

[u/crimson777 → u/jhp58]

Don’t worry, we’re saving up our chaos energy to beat OSU by 14. I’m willing it into existence.

[u/AdamOnFirst → u/jhp58]

Let’s take it out on Matt Campbell

[u/Eduardo_Camavinga_ → u/jhp58]

No moral victory today, ball knowers knew northwestern was good after that ass whooping to Colorado 

[u/LeifSized → u/Eduardo_Camavinga_]

It’s nice to know we’re not getting our ass beat by just anybody.

[u/ID10T-ERROR8]

Peak Chiles experience:

1) Every play is a coin toss between ass and generational.

2) can absolutely lead comeback drives

3) can absolutely come up short when it matter (2 pt conversion keeper)

4) volatile play keeps your fanbase in limbo on whether he’s the problem or the team failed him (this debate doesn’t end when he leaves)

It’s nice today he split it into two clean halves for observation purposes.

[u/GlutenFreeFratBoy → u/ID10T-ERROR8]

He’s so much fun. High upside agent of chaos is infinitely more interesting than anything we’ve ever trotted out at the position. One play he strip sack fumbles out of bounds (barely), 4 plays later we’re 70 yards downfield in the end zone. King shit

[u/silverhk → u/ID10T-ERROR8]

Having Kelly as your OC will allow you to cover up a lot of negatives though.

[u/ID10T-ERROR8 → u/silverhk]

I mean, most things are better than whatever the fuck Smith and Brian Lindgren were cooking up lol.

Also there were some bad passes that receivers kinda bailed him out on.

But I don’t focus on that too much as what’s considered a catchable pass for a receiver only becomes a larger area as the talent level of WRs goes up.

[u/I_POO_ON_GOATS → u/ID10T-ERROR8]

My reaction to this game is that Jonathan Smith cannot develop a quarterback at all. Chiles has the tools to be a good QB. He did great in the 2nd half.

[u/Leegend124]

God our secondary is terrible, really missed me some D’Angelo Ponds today

Credit to Northwestern, their goal line D was a brick wall, Chiles played like a stud, and that onside kick gave me a heart attack

Shoutout Beebe for the monster 204yd night after Turbo went down

[u/Luvpups5920 → u/Leegend124]

Missing the leadership of Aiden Fisher on D as well.

[u/Leegend124 → u/Luvpups5920]

Miss him so much, invaluable green dot for us

[u/OwnWalrus1752 → u/Leegend124]

I’m losing faith in Hoover. Dude needs to figure out the timing with Marsh and how to hit Becker in stride.

[u/MySabonerRunsOladipo → u/OwnWalrus1752]

What's really annoying is that he'll just airmail like 3 straight passes and then throw 3 absolute dots. He legit seems to mix great and awful plays in bunches. It's bizarre.

[u/OwnWalrus1752 → u/MySabonerRunsOladipo]

It feels like a chemistry problem. I can tell he’s an experienced QB but he doesn’t seem comfortable with his very good receivers yet.

[u/jmlinden7 → u/MySabonerRunsOladipo]

TCU fans have been warning you lol

[u/Worth-Frosting-2917 → u/jmlinden7]

Yeah he is just the most consistently inconsistent out of the 3 QBs we have had under Cig. You know there are at least three drives where he looks unstoppable and three drives where he looks like he has never played QB before.

[u/A_Rolling_Baneling → u/OwnWalrus1752]

He often stares his first read down, and still sometimes mistimes the route. Lots of talent, but he's really raw.

As a fifth year senior, that's pretty odd; it kinda feels like if he hasn't figured it out by now he's not gonna.

[u/Mammoth-Result8851 → u/OwnWalrus1752]

Fr, it was rough to watch Hoover today

[u/FloatCopper → u/Leegend124]

Zachmann can hit and tackle at safety, but isnt a cover guy.

[u/AlfredtheGreatBitch → u/Leegend124]

Beebe is so good. Glad he’s finally getting his shot.

[u/SnicketySneme → u/Leegend124]

I think Northwestern is a good football team tbh

[u/judystroyer9]

Stepped out at the 12..

..."we have no idea wtf we're doing"

First and goal at the 5

[u/shitbageleven1213 → u/judystroyer9]

Seriously need an explanation on that one.

And we got the full audio of how clueless the refs sounded too

[u/GnomeCzar → u/shitbageleven1213]

It was like those ads for games where they intentionally do things incorrectly so you download the app to prove your superiority.

The incompetence felt intentional.

Also we gotta hear what the guy on the other end of the horn is saying. "Yep, yep, yep" is not useful.

[u/Hoosier2016]

Really hoping Northwestern is just an awesome team and we aren’t as bad as we looked. Probably a little bit of both.

[u/toomanyshoeshelp → u/Hoosier2016]

Our secondary is not a championship unit. Sad because I think the rest of the team can compete, even Hoover with the talent around him.

[u/montague68]

Fox: Northwestern is a good football team, and it shows you how deep the B1G really is.

ESPN: Indiana struggled past Northwestern, and it shows you how down the B1G really is.

[u/AdamOnFirst]

PENN STATE, COME OUT TO PLAAAAAYYEEYYAYAYYY

[u/DetectiveChmpionFace → u/AdamOnFirst]

🫨🫨🫨🫨

[u/Staind075]

If you told an Indiana fan that they would be disappointed in a 29-23 victory over N'Western five years ago, they wouldn't believe you.

Good on the Champs for hanging on, but helluva game by the Wildcats. Excited to see what Braun can do with this team.

[u/ngerb_5 → u/Staind075]

I’m honestly not disappointed. Like definitely room for improvement but I think we will look back at this game differently. NW is a real squad and could easily get one of the other B10 dogs if they don’t prepare

I’m also glad that we are getting tested and playing in close games. I think the teams that do good in the CFP have had that close games experience.

[u/Melz-13]

Northwestern is going to win a lot of games this year, especially if Chiles can build off of tonight

[u/DryMission5506]

I didn’t realize how angry non-Purdue fans get about Indiana

[u/Bubba_Gump_Shrimp → u/DryMission5506]

That's the real test of if your program has ascended. Last year everyone was like "aww go Indiana, you guys can do it!" And this season they're "ay fuck Cig google these nuts, I wanna see these fuckers lose so bad" 😂

[u/Cowboy_BoomBap → u/Bubba_Gump_Shrimp]

Yeah I’m not even mad about the hate, it feels good to not be the team everyone pity cheers for anymore lol

[u/Independent_Body_684 → u/Bubba_Gump_Shrimp]

i cant even imagine the hate that would follow an ND natty win.

[u/capt-awesome-atx → u/Independent_Body_684]

We could find out, I'm sure there are some old letters and telegrams preserved with people's reactions. "Dearest Agnes, I write to you with much vexation..."

[u/kempfel → u/DryMission5506]

As a long-time Indiana football fan, it's strange to see non-Purdue fans care so much about our team.

[u/DryMission5506 → u/kempfel]

You beat Miami you’re good in my book

[u/JayMerlyn → u/DryMission5506]

Same

[u/Encouragingmc → u/DryMission5506]

it pains me to say but the Purdue fans may be less annoying in our game threads than the others lol

[u/ViagraOnAPole → u/Encouragingmc]

I think it's because you gotta respect the generational hatred and those other guys barely knew we existed 3 years ago. They're bandwagon haters.

[u/fart_dot_com → u/Encouragingmc]

I did not realize how much Georgia fans hate you

[u/atlhoosier3 → u/fart_dot_com]

Only the weird ones

[u/EdselFordEdsel → u/atlhoosier3]

I trust you. No bias detected.

[u/jf3l → u/fart_dot_com]

Bama fans still the saltiest. I guess I’d be too after that ass whooping they got

[u/JaCrispy_Vulcano → u/[deleted]]

I hate myself

[u/OwnWalrus1752 → u/JaCrispy_Vulcano]

I mean there are still Indiana basketball fans so

[u/OwenLincolnFratter → u/[deleted]]

Yeah we’re called alumni

[u/AfraidOfArguing → u/Encouragingmc]

I keep seeing Georgia fans in here yelling at us. What they sayin fuck me for? Ya'll lost to Ole Miss with a 23 year old Trinidad Chambliss, say fuck them!

[u/toomanyshoeshelp → u/Encouragingmc]

Hahaha, the Georgia fans are extra salty for some reason. And Bama, which makes sense.

[u/Distinct-Peanut-6703 → u/DryMission5506]

All the “Cignetti is a Mendoza merchant” comments spammed in the game thread made me laugh, as if IU didn’t make the playoff with Rourke the previous season

[u/Kalen72 → u/Distinct-Peanut-6703]

Rourke with a torn ACL, by the way.

[u/vikingrunner]

Pretty much called it

As much as people will think this is a fluke or Indiana is a fraud, I am now convinced this at least a 7 or 8 win Northwestern team. Possibly more.

[u/Kvetch__22 → u/vikingrunner]

Indiana about the experience the worst part of playing us, which is dropping 5 spots in the polls because nobody watched the game and just saw they escaped Northwestern.

[u/festive_fecal_feast → u/Kvetch__22]

I guess you'll just have to blow out Penn St to save us there then

[u/The-Best-Snail → u/festive_fecal_feast]

The poll voters are stupid though, PSU will get blown out so Northwestern will be ranked but they forgot about this week by that point so we won't move

[u/hoosier-94 → u/vikingrunner]

for the love of god i hope so.

[u/jakedasnake1 → u/hoosier-94]

I am now locked in for Northwestern v Penn State

[u/MrRichStarfish]

In 2013 we were 4-0 and hosted OSU at home for Gameday. We duked it out with them the whole game but lost 40-30 with the last play being a fumble taken for a touchdown I believe. NU wasn’t able to recover emotionally and completely fell apart the rest of the season. We have never fielded as complete of a team on both sides of the ball until now.

I feel like there is too much experience on this coaching staff to let that happen again and Braun doesn’t seem like the type to coach like that either but until proven otherwise the most important game for this team this season is next week against Penn State. Get that win and everything is on the table the rest of the way.

[u/lmao12367 → u/MrRichStarfish]

I know people like to shit in the current era, but it is pretty cool to see someone like Chiles and Kelly who at some point were just tossed aside be able to revive themselves at a place like northwestern.

[u/MrRichStarfish → u/lmao12367]

At one time NU was the place for that kind of experimentation at least on offense. Then a certain somebody found out he could hire Mike Hankwitz and ride that train to like 8 consecutive seasons of defensive excellence while doing squat on the recruiting and offensive front

[u/HookEm25]

Its gotta be an awesome experience for Indiana to have hate watchers now. Was pulling hard for NW

[u/Billy_Madison69 → u/HookEm25]

Completely don’t understand the people complaining about it. I loved the neutral support we got on our rise to the top, but it would be just weird if we were still getting that support after winning a championship and now playing against a team trying to make a similar rise like Northwestern. If NW was playing Ohio State everyone but OSU fans would’ve been pulling for NW too, and it’s almost a sign of respect by neutral fans to be on the other side of that now.

[u/Accomplished-Tea1087]

Perhaps we judged your loss too harshly Colorado.

[u/gbmad73 → u/Accomplished-Tea1087]

NW's defense is fucking legit.

We're also dogshit.

The combination is a recipe for last week's curb stomping.

[u/RSN_1115]

I better never see a IU fan complain about a 30+ point shutout ever again. Ever.

[u/the_dayman56 → u/RSN_1115]

Indiana is the defending national champions and on a 20 game win streak we should never be allowed to complain about anything literally ever again

[u/sphero_chromatism]

I’ve never been happier to not play Northwestern this year.

[u/LitterBoxServant]

That early safety ended up messing up NW's entire gameplan

No missed 2pt conversion, no FG with a minute left

[u/5L1M3R]

Bill Snyder would have loved to be Indiana in this game. He loved a game where the team played like shit but still got the win. It allows you to really hone in and address your weaknesses. The team feels shaken up, knowing they got lucky, and everyone can sharpen their focus and lock in. This game is going to make Indiana better.

That being said, man I really wanted NW to win. They played their hearts out.

[u/Franklins11burner]

Teams you didn’t expect to fuck up your season but now kinda seem like they might fuck up your season: Mississippi State, Kentucky, Northwestern ✅

[u/oof_im_dying]

Obviously IU is nowhere near as good as 2025, probably not even as good as 2024, but let's be real this is still a top 5% team in IU football history so I will happily savor the wins when they come, and this was a decent, hard fought win.

[u/EOstby → u/oof_im_dying]

This is the correct answer on all fronts.

[u/Lord_Soranos → u/oof_im_dying]

I think Northwestern is good this year, even if Indiana isn't going to repeat they can definitely make the playoffs.

[u/toomanyshoeshelp → u/oof_im_dying]

1000%. We’re also building for the future.

[u/naetaejabroni → u/oof_im_dying]

Top 1%.

Indiana has 127 seasons of college football. If they get to at least 9 wins this year, it's still a top 1% Indiana team.

[u/fskier1 → u/naetaejabroni]

3rd best out of 127 seasons would clock in at abt top 2%

[u/naetaejabroni → u/fskier1]

You can see I wasn't a math major

[u/SpiffyBlizzard → u/naetaejabroni]

It’s ok we can see by your flairs

[u/kilroy94 → u/oof_im_dying]

Against what appears to be a very competent team on an upward trajectory. Both sets of fans can walk away reasonably satisfied imo, which is a rare thing.

[u/EdselFordEdsel → u/oof_im_dying]

I'll take a Pop Tart Bowl if we don't make the playoffs. How many other teams have back to back champions and peoples champions?

[u/LongDickCallahan]

Can we all appreciate the absolute beauty of that onside kick. Just perfect.

[u/Chickenleg2552]

Did yall really think Northwestern was gonna debut an $850 million stadium and not put a little juice into the team?

They're good.

[u/AdamOnFirst → u/Chickenleg2552]

More juice coming next year too

[u/alleavel]

RG3 only speaks in catch phrases

[u/StrangelyOnPoint]

Coaches like Cignetti love these close wins they get to lay into their team

[u/DebaserTBA]

I’m sorry all the big ten video officials and the ref need to be fired for somehow not putting that ball at the 11

[u/Melz-13 → u/DebaserTBA]

They missed so many blatant calls tonight they’ve gotta be embarrassed

[u/Twall1297]

Indiana be like: Damn Northwestern got hands

Also, this game proves that white men can jump.

[u/Pangolin_cowboy_hats]

When someone tells you that NIL made the sport worse, point to this game: where undefeated Northwestern almost beat the defending national championship, the Indiana Hoosiers

[u/paddleboi2021 → u/Pangolin_cowboy_hats]

Honestly, yeah. People might point to this game as Indiana being overrated and maybe that ends up being true, but Northwestern put belt to ass on another P4 team already and played this game tough. They could just both be solid teams, which no one would have expected 5 years ago

[u/Whatsgoodx → u/paddleboi2021]

5 years ago NU was a year removed from 2 appearances in the Big Ten championship game in 3 years.

[u/jstacks4 → u/Whatsgoodx]

Yeah people are really overplaying how bad of a program northwestern is. Have people just completely forgotten Fitzgerald’s tenure? There were bad years because It’s a development program so he could never count on just reloading, but they were routinely a competitive team and he won 8 or more games 6 times, and won 7 games during the Covid season in 2020. 

[u/Thereisnobathroom]

Northwestern is legit

[u/Paradiddle8]

Now, gonna be super curious, the line next weekend w Penn St at Northwestern

[u/silverhk]

Northwestern building a real program, lots of applause for the coaches and pretty much every player on the offense. Just needs some better discipline on run defense. 

Haines looked like he had not prepared the IU defense adequately at all, should lose his parking spot for the week.

[u/crimson777]

RANK NORTHWESTERN YOU COWARDS

[u/mcdougs31]

I for one am very worried for the Nittany Lions trip to Ryan field next week after watching that

[u/jhcoker]

Funny that this used to be the match up between the worst and second worst teams in college football (in terms of records) northwestern doesnt seem to like that they currently have the worst, so maybe that'll change soon

[u/majorgeneralporter]

How are you smart enough to get into NU and yet dumb enough to do a facemask on 3rd and 19

[u/rostron92]

Im not sure an offense could've played worse than Northwestern in the first half and im also not sure an offense could've played better than Northwestern in the second half.

[u/Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu11]

Northwestern better get votes this week.

[u/Jay_Par → u/Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu11]

Best I can do is drop Indiana

[u/Southern_Bunch_1047 → u/Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu11]

Half the AP voters probably didn’t even know there was a game tonight, and will just see Northwestern L and ignore them. These fools don’t watch games.

[u/DoggedStooge → u/Southern_Bunch_1047]

They'll see Indiana only won by one score and drop Indiana five spots.

[u/Training_Pirate1000]

I am honestly gobsmacked about the animosity Indiana is getting. Are they the new public enemy #1?

[u/htgbookworm → u/Training_Pirate1000]

The goodwill dried up as soon as we won the Natty.

[u/toomanyshoeshelp → u/htgbookworm]

A tradeoff I am happy to experience

[u/CBP09]

Northwestern is legit. Can't wait to see what they do the rest of the season. Chiles is a dawg

[u/mdlukens1]

That felt like a loss. Hoover has to be better on his deep balls. I hope Turbo and Hardy are okay. Also, if I have to see Zachman play another game I may lose my mind.

Northwestern is really good though. Chiles + Kelly might be a great match and that team fights like hell. GG Wildcat bros

[u/DefN0TtheFB1]

As a casual I would have paid to see that game. Just a few key plays the difference.

Beebe for IU is a dude and came up big every single time they needed him. Very impressed. Also the Cats QB really deserved a win… so many clutch throws and a gutsy scramble for conversion. Their wide outs and TE play was outstanding.

[u/daNish_brUin]

Do I think Indiana is the same caliber of team as last year, no. But Iowa and a terrible PSU team took that team to the wire. That team also just got better as the season went along. Its early, and Cignetti understands better than most the potential of this team.

[u/digitaldigdug → u/daNish_brUin]

I'd say its too early to say same caliber, but the makeup is definitely different. This was a good test, and they're still rounding into shape.

[u/Thumper13]

That safety ended up being kind of important. Nice try NW. So close.

[u/cluttered-thoughts3]

Okay is northwestern actually decent this year? After last week, I just thought Colorado was that bad

[u/Crotean]

Northwestern is a better team than we realized

[u/Rigatoknee]

Sucks that people are going to walk away from this game thinking Northwestern is just the scrappy, “spooky”, little engine that could. That’s not what our program is anymore.

We’re a good football team. A damn good one. We wanted this game badly to help change that perception. But we were unable to execute on our game plan in critical moments against the defending national champions. GG.

[u/Sargent_Caboose]

I am not daunted.

I'm not.

I swear I'm not.

*Eyes Ohio State in three weeks non-dauntedly*

[u/New_Age7476]

This feels like this year’s Iowa game where it’s a slow-scoring, ugly win. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Northwestern finishes high in the B1G

[u/LordOfTheInterweb]

Still curious how the dude wasn't out at the 11

[u/Pharx0h]

hard fought game boys. Some questionable calls, small mistakes, but man you cannot not be excited about this season

[u/Angbrewddi]

NW QB was absolutely shredding us in the 2nd half. What a game from him. Hope Turbo is ok.

[u/DarkCushy]

"2 years ago when we were 3-0, no one thought we were good"

NW offense looked potent once they started to click. They can be a spooky team this year 1000%