Indiana realized that remaining at No. 2 in the College Football Playoff ranking was likely after rallying to win at Penn State last week while Ohio State rolled to keep wraps on the No. 1 spot.
That hasn’t kept the Hoosiers from aspiring to keep climbing in other areas as they prepare for Saturday’s home finale against Wisconsin.
“The team has always, like I said, been about pushing one another,” Hoosiers linebacker Rolijah Hardy said. “I could definitely feel it. We try not to let it get into our heads too much, because of course we’ve got to go ahead and finish the year, which is the target to the national championship. But we definitely feel that, and we appreciate it.”
Indiana (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) solidified its hold on a first-round CFP bye with a 27-24 win at Penn State, highlighted by Omar Cooper Jr.’s acrobatic touchdown catch in the back of the end zone on a pass from Fernando Mendoza.
The Hoosiers, who appear on a collision course with Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, have won just two games by single digits this season.
To Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, that goes with the territory of being a power for the second straight season.
“We’re not sneaking up on anyone anymore,” Cignetti said. “We got Iowa’s best shot at Iowa. We got Penn State’s best shot at Penn State. Oregon was obviously a big game on the road, and we’ll get Wisconsin’s best shot. So, we’ve got to have a good week of preparation.”
Wisconsin (3-6, 1-5) stopped a 10-game conference losing streak dating to last season with last week’s narrow home victory against then-No. 23 Washington.
Freshmen linebackers Cooper Catalano and Mason Posa were on the spot for the Badgers, continuing a recent trend. Catalano (27) and Posa (24) have collected the most total tackles for the team over the past two games since entering the starting lineup.
Badgers coach Luke Fickell especially lauded Posa’s “competitive spirit” and its impact on a 13-10 win against Washington, including a forced and recovered fumble that put Wisconsin in position for its lone touchdown.
“There’s guys that work hard and those guys, when the ball goes down, just have this competitive nature to them that continue to rise to what they do,” Fickell said. “And I think that’s just where he is. … He’s just a guy that has a lot of confidence in what he does.”
Wisconsin also may rely on a freshman to lead a fledgling attack. Punter Sean West finished as the Badgers’ leading passer against Washington, as freshman Carter Smith went 3-for-12 for eight yards in relief of injured starting quarterback Danny O’Neil.
Smith or Hunter Simmons appears likely to get the start under center.
“Either way, we know we got to be able to throw the ball down the field,” Fickell said. “We know we’ve got to be able to do the things that whether Carter or Hunter can do, but the things that we need to do to make sure that we’re not just completely one-dimensional. So we got a lot of work to do.”
Indiana has won two straight in the series on the heels of Wisconsin’s 10-game winning streak from 2005-17.