Dumping Them Out – Indiana Football Hoosiers Are Delightful to Cheer For

John Rich11/01/2026 6:25 PM

Welcome to another episode of Dumping Them Out. I will be using this episode of Dumping Them Out to discuss my favorite sports team, the Indiana Football Hoosiers.

I love Indiana football this year. I love them very much. That's what I've decided to tell myself over and over and over again, like Bart Simpson writing on the chalkboard, to keep myself from hating them. Because the Indiana Football Hoosiers won a National Championship last year.

But do yous know what's crazy about sports? As a fan of the Indiana Hoosiers football team, I found myself yesterday thinking, "This team is taking years off my life."

Do you know how insane that is? As a fan of a team that was factually the biggest loser in the sport up until 2024, I now have the audacity to think, "They're taking years off my life" as the Hoosiers are playing a bad game of football... while ranked 4th in the nation... on the heels of a National Championship. Fuck ~~you~~ me. That's absurd. So I refuse to let my brain go down that path. Personall, I'm thrilled to cheer for a team who wins football games in the most hilarious ways possible. Did you see that shit yesterday? There were dueling 60-yard field goals to end regulation.

And it all happened after Indiana couldn't find a way to make a chip shot all game. Indiana won that football game after Charlie Becker caught this pass with 13 seconds left, while Indiana had TWO TIMEOUTS, and their NEXT PLAY was an attempt from 60 yards.

Lmao. Indiana tried. They tried to lose that game SO HARD. But whatever golden horseshoe, voodoo magic, deal-with-the-devil shit Curt Cignetti has going for him just refused to let the Hoosiers lose.

Everybody knows Indiana has a fine defense. A great defense. But I wanted to give a special shoutout to Indiana's offense. They may not have a competent quarterback in regulation, but they just might have the most statistically efficient OVERTIME OFFENSE in college football history. No matter how putrid they look all game long, if the Hoosiers get to overtime, nobody scores immediate TD's easier than 2026 Indiana.

Hypothetically speaking (because I saw Rico Bosco tweeting this yesterday), if Minnesota had scored a TD on their turn in OT, should they have gone for two?

That game yesterday was the first time in my life, as a fan, that I legitimately wanted my opponent to try to win the game with a 2-point conversion. In any other situation I'd agree with Bosco, but that's how bad Indiana's offense is relative to their defense this year. I mean… I know Indiana's OT offense has been the best in the nation. But idk how much I'm willing to test that. If Indiana ever has ONE PLAY to win a football game, and they have the choice between letting their offense or defense win it for them, they'd be crazy not to ride the D. Pause.

I know it was Minnesota's decision whether or not to go for two, but that's how decisions should be made in football – What does your opponent NOT want you to do right now? Whatever that is, do it.

And what an all-time impressive end-of-game, put-the-team-on-your-back performance from Charlie Becker.

He's so good, man. The second his corner takes a half-step the wrong direction, they're cooked. And even if Becker is underthrown, or fully covered, he can go up and get anything. I know Jeremiah Smith is all the rage at wide receiver this year, but Charlie Becker isn't that much worse. I know Jeremiah Smith is objectively better, but at the same time, I didn't see Jeremiah Smith resurrect his team from the dead with a backup quarterback yesterday. And if we're being honest, Indiana's defense low-key shut down Jeremiah Smith the other weekend. I mean… not really. He did have that one super impressive, super important play.

But if I'm putting my biased salty hater hat on, I'd say that catch was more of an indictment on Indiana's DB's never playing a lick of center field in their life, and not knowing how to judge the trajectory of a simple pop fly. They had all the time in the world to get in front of that pass if they could just find the damn ball. I'm sure it's harder than it looks, but I swear they don't teach defensive backs to find the football like they used to. DB's just play their man and hope to whip their head around and swipe an arm across the receiver's catch radius at the perfect time.

If you're Curt Cignetti, I think you have to roll with QB2 Grant Wilson over QB1 Josh Hoover moving forward. At least see how it goes to start the game. It can't get much worse than finishing the first half with 7 points or less 4 games in a row. Indiana has a bye next weekend, so they've got two weeks to get Wilson ready for USC. Unless Josh Hoover has a very clear and certifiable injury that they 100% know is the reason he can't throw… and they really believe that in a couple more weeks, his shoulder will heal, and he'll improve SIGNIFICANTLY… Grant Wilson feels like the better option. Indiana has two receivers, Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh, who are WAY too good not to have a QB who can take the top off the defense on any given play. Defenses should have to be worried about Indiana's offense doing this on every snap.

With Josh Hoover, they just aren't.

What a fucking team Indiana has this year. At this point, I've fully done the mental gymnastics to convince myself that Indiana is in a great spot. They have a National Championship caliber defense. Their offense is an issue. But it's not like they need a Fernando Mendoza Heisman winning QB to get things right. They just need a QB who can make an accurate throw like, 50% of the time. The bar for a quarterback who makes Indiana a significantly better football team is so fucking low. If Grant Wilson can step in, be a threat with his legs, throw a decent deep ball that gives his NFL receivers a chance, and not airmail half his checkdowns into the press box… Indiana can beat anyone. It's not like any other team in college football is doing anything impressive.