Fernando Mendoza threw for 215 yards and a key fourth-quarter landing and No. 7 Indiana remained undefeated with a 30-20 victory over No. 3 Oregon on Saturday.
Roman Hemby added a pair of scoring runs for the Hoosiers (6-0, 3-0 Huge Ten), who pissed off the Geese (5-1, 2-1) with stout defensive play. The win was Indiana's first over a top-five group since beating then-No. 3 Purdue 19-14 in 1967.
Dante Moore threw for 186 yards and a landing, however has two passes intercepted and was sacked six occasions in Oregon's first Huge Ten regular-season loss.
It snapped an 18-game profitable streak at Autzen Stadium, the longest energetic streak within the nation.
With Oregon down 20-13 going into the fourth quarter, Brandon Finney intercepted Mendoza's move and ran it again 35 yards to tie it with 12:42 left. Mendoza answered with an 8-yard scoring move to Elijah Sarratt with 6:23 to go to offer Indiana the lead for good.
On Oregon's subsequent sequence, Moore's move was intercepted by Louis Moore and Brendan Franke added a 22-yard area purpose for the Hoosiers with 2:06 left for the ultimate margin.
“Our protection was large within the second half, our kicking recreation was actually good all day, and the offense made performs once they needed to,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti mentioned. “Mendoza prolonged performs, made performs along with his legs. And the play to Sarratt, clearly, was big, big.”
Either side have been coming off weeks off. Of their final recreation, the Geese beat Penn State 30-24 in double-overtime on the highway within the annual White Out recreation. The Hoosiers beat Iowa 20-15 on the highway.
Requested how significand the win was for the Hoosiers' program, Cignetti was pragmatic.
“Properly, it is determined by what we do with it from right here,” he mentioned. “You recognize, it's an ideal win in opposition to the (No. 3 ranked) group within the nation on the highway who had an 18-game residence profitable streak, proper? And it places us in place, if we are able to proceed to achieve success, which suggests we've got to point out as much as work on Monday as a group, humble and hungry.”
On the primary sequence of the sport, the Geese failed at a fourth-and-1 try, giving the Hoosiers good area place for his or her opening drive. It ended with Nico Radicic's 42-yard area purpose.
Oregon pulled forward with Moore's 44-yard landing move to Malik Benson however Hemby rushed for a 3-yard landing earlier than the top of the primary quarter to make it 10-7.
Atticus Sappington's 40-yard area purpose tied it up for the Geese, however a later 36-yard try that will have given Oregon the lead went large left.
Franke kicked a 58-yard area purpose as time ran out to offer Indiana a 13-10 benefit on the break.
Sappington's 33-yard area purpose within the third quarter tied it once more for Oregon however Hemby added his second landing for the Hoosiers, a two-yard sprint late within the interval.
The loss was a studying alternative, mentioned Oregon coach Dan Lanning.
“We didn't have a fastball at present,” Lanning mentioned. “All people needs to take a look at gamers and say, ‘Oh that is the rationale.' That was a group effort, proper? And that was a group loss, proper? And their group performed higher than us. It wasn't Dante. It was the entire group, the teaching employees, the gamers.”
The takeaway
Oregon will little question fall whereas Indiana will rise within the AP Prime 25. The tight recreation was harking back to final 12 months's regular-season showdown between Oregon and Ohio State at Autzen, when the Geese prevailed 32-31.
This recreation, too, may nonetheless have Huge Ten title and Faculty Soccer Playoff implications, however the Geese don't have the No. 1 Buckeyes on the schedule this 12 months. Neither do the Hoosiers, who hosts Michigan State subsequent Saturday.
Oregon subsequent travels to Piscataway for a highway recreation in opposition to Rutgers.
It ain't over
Lanning reminded his group afterward that there's nonetheless soccer to be performed.
“It's arduous to go unscathed in school soccer, particularly in opposition to group. They performed a greater recreation than us, they have been higher coached than us at present. And our guys acknowledge that each one of our targets remains to be in entrance of us and a chance to assault,” Lanning mentioned.
