Enough of the cupcakes. Enough with the empty calories.
Next comes No. 9 Illinois, tougher than a three-dollar steak, coming to Bloomington next Saturday night for a nationally televised game against No. 19 IU. Now comes the meat of the order, with games later this season at Iowa, at Oregon and at Penn State.
The Hoosiers did what they were supposed to do, knocking off Old Dominion in the opener, blowing out Kennesaw State last week and stomping poor, overmatched Indiana State, 73-0 Friday night at Memorial Stadium. It was the largest shutout win by an IU team since the Hoosiers beat Franklin, 76-0, in 1901.
That's a really long time.
It was also the Hoosiers' 11th straight home victory, a school record, surpassing Bill Mallory's 10-game streak in 1987-88.
If the Hoosiers had a challenge Friday night -- which should be reserved for high school football, by the way -- it was to keep a straight face.
Curt Cignetti got it right during a pre-game interview on the Big Ten Network.
"They're out-manned," he said of ISU, coached by the son of legendary IU coach Bill Mallory, Curt Mallory. "Let's call it what it is."
How bad was it for the Sycamores? They were down 38-0 before they managed their first first down with 4:51 left in the third quarter. Early on, it was 190 to -2 in total yards, IU ultimately out-gaining ISU by 603 yards. At halftime, starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza had completed 19-of-20 passes for 270 yards and five touchdowns. He was replaced by his brother, Alberto, in the second half...and he threw two touchdowns. Omar Cooper had 10 catches for 207 yards and four touchdowns. They ran for 300 yards for the third game in a row.
You get the idea.
For ISU, it was a paycheck game. For the Hoosiers, it was a glorified scrimmage.
Now the fun starts. The cupcakes have been consumed, and now the real college football season starts.
Bob Kravitz is an award-winning columnist who has been in the sports journalism business for 43 years. He's worked at Sports Illustrated, the Indianapolis Star, The Athletic and other publications, and is now an Indiana-based publisher at Roundtable Sports. You can follow him on X @bkravitz.