Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530431
GAME PREVIEW: INDIANA BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2025 19 C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L P L A Y O F F opportunity to do some great things," Freeman said. "We just have to focus on really giving ourselves the best op- portunity to do that. That's how you prepare physically and tactically for a game, and that's what we've got to do." "I'm confident in our football team," Cignetti added. "I think we'll apply the lessons learned at a high stake when we had to go on the road in a hostile envi- ronment and apply those up at Notre Dame." PROVING IT Those lessons learned with a lot at stake were in reference to Indiana's lone game against a ranked opponent this season. It didn't go so well. With ESPN's College GameDay in Co- lumbus, Ohio, and the Buckeyes breath- ing down the Hoosiers' necks, Ohio State clobbered Indiana 38-15 Nov. 23. Indiana had a chance to prove to ev- eryone in the country it was for real and could compete with the nation's best. The Buckeyes held the Hoosiers to 151 Facts & Figures INDIANA AT NOTRE DAME Date: Dec. 20, 2024 Site: Notre Dame Stadium Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET Television: ABC/ESPN Radio: Notre Dame IMG affiliates Series facts: Notre Dame leads the all-time series 23-5-1. The Irish have won 20 of the last 21 meetings, including the last one, 49-27, in South Bend on Sept. 9, 1991. Notre Dame is 14-1 versus IU in games played in South Bend. Head coaches: Indiana — Curt Cignetti (11-1, first season at IU; 130-36, 14th sea- son overall); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (30-9, third season). Noting Indiana: The Hoosiers started 10-0 for the first time in program history, and the 11 wins are also an all-time program record … Cignetti is the first coach in Division I history to start consecutive seasons 10-0 at different programs; he was also 10-0 at James Madison in 2023 … Thirteen former James Madison players followed Cignetti to Indiana via the transfer portal; the Hoosiers took in 27 trans- fer portal players in total … Indiana has tied a single-season record with 37 rushing touch- downs … Kicker Nicolas Radicic is 69 of 69 on extra points and was perfect on field goals until he missed one in the regular-season fi- nale against Purdue; he's 9 of 10 now, much better than Notre Dame's 8 of 18 as a team … The Hoosiers rank No. 2 nationally in scoring offense and No. 6 in scoring defense. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke, a transfer from Ohio University, is etching his name in the Indiana record book, passing for 2,827 yards and 27 touchdowns this season. PHOTO COURTESY INDIANA