Despite a slow start and rain, Indiana's offense exploded, with Fernando Mendoza's four touchdown passes fueling a dominant homecoming victory over Michigan State.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – While rain affected No. 3 Indiana’s homecoming game against Michigan State, the Hoosiers poured it on the Spartans Saturday in another dominant victory. After a slow start, Indiana (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) pulled away with a convincing 38-13 win over Michigan State (3-4, 0-4 Big Ten).
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has guided the program to its first back-to-back wins in the Old Brass Spittoon Game since winning three straight from 1967-69.
The Hoosiers appeared to be at risk of having a letdown early in this one after last week’s historic road win against No. 2 Oregon. Michigan State marched down the field with relative ease in its first two drives to take a 10-7 lead in the second quarter. But Indiana gathered itself and scored 31 consecutive points to blow the Spartans out of the water and win its seventh straight game.
The Hoosiers scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 21-10 lead into halftime. Although a 30-minute weather delay at halftime kept both teams in the locker room a bit longer than they expected, Indiana didn’t let up to begin the third quarter. Indiana went on a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to keep its foot on the gas.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was stellar Saturday. Mendoza went 24-of-28 for 332 yards with four touchdown passes. The redshirt junior quarterback continues to excel in his first and likely only season with the Hoosiers. Mendoza now has 21 touchdown passes (and just two interceptions) in 2025, which leads the Big Ten and is the most of the Cal transfer’s career.
"We've seen teams come off a big win and be complacent," Mendoza said after the game. "And Coach Cignetti made that a point throughout the week. ... And so I think that we had that mindset, knew we needed to start hot, we didn't want to be complacent."
Mendoza is in the midst of one of the greatest individual seasons in Indiana history. The Miami native is a Heisman trophy favorite and has a chance to lead the Hoosiers to their first Big Ten championship game appearance.
Michigan State quarterback Aidan Chiles completed 24 of his first 26 passes on Saturday, and he was still clearly the second-best quarterback in Memorial Stadium. Mendoza consistently delivered dimes to his receivers to lead another efficient outing for Indiana’s offense.
Indiana’s defense followed a sluggish start in this one with a much more encouraging second half. The Hoosiers’ defensive front delivered much more resistance and pressure to Chiles and his running backs in the backfield, and in the second half the Spartans only managed a meaningless field goal with less than a minute left in the game.
The Hoosiers have not allowed more than 20 points in a game this season. Their defense has been just as impressive as their offense, which is why the Hoosiers will be ranked top-two in the country next week after No. 2 Miami’s loss to Louisville on Friday night.
Indiana remains unbeaten at home (13-0) under Cignetti. Over the past two seasons, this team has defeated Big Ten opponents with an ease that this program hasn’t seen before, especially in Bloomington. Some were worried that this would be a trap game for Indiana after it upset Oregon on the road last week, but it was business as usual for Cignetti’s squad.
Indiana will be back at home next Saturday against UCLA.