ATLANTA, Ga.  — When Curt Cignetti arrived at Indiana in December of 2023, he had more roster openings than spots filled. He brought 13 players with him from James Madison, recruited nearly two dozen other transfers and welcomed in 17 freshman.

They can all joke it about it, two years and 25 wins later, about the cast of misfits who all became Indiana Hoosiers. But the truth? It's really nothing like that at all.

Everyone at Indiana these past few years has truly belonged. The ones who came, the ones who stayed and the others that all arrived for the second year to make this one of the craziest — and surreal — college football stories ever told. There are no five-star recruits on this team, and only seven four-stars.

The are the best team in America anyway.

The Hoosiers are built with an experienced roster that's played a lot of football at a lot of different levels. They came to Bloomington as relative unknowns and did something special a year ago. They went 11-2, setting a school record for wins and losing only to Ohio State in the regular season and Notre Dame in the first round of the new 12-team College Football Playoff. Those two teams would play for the national title, with Ohio State winning. 

Cignetti brought in more transfers this year, 23 to be exact, and most notably quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who would lead the Hoosiers to 14 straight wins and earned the Heisman Trophy, the first for Indiana.

He was a terrific leader who brought everyone together. But he's also surrounded by veteran guys who lead as well. At every level on both sides of the ball, there are seniors, redshirt seniors and even a handful of six-year guys leading the way.

They have a lot of old dudes, but old is a relative term. Because of redshirt years, the ''didn't count'' COVID season in 2020 and some medical hardships, guys like safety Louis Moore will be turning 25 in a few weeks.

No one else is older, though. Indiana is winning with a lot of 21- and 22-year-olds, which really isn't all that uncommon. Schools have been playing with a lot redshirt seniors for years, especially in the trenches. As they get older, they are more developed — both physically and mentally. 

And no, Indiana doesn't have any 30-year-olds. Or 29, 28, 27 and so on. 

And it's also more than fair. If you're one of those fans who's whining about Indiana, just remember that every transfer at Indiana was available to your team, too. Your team — more than likely — did not want them.

Indiana just did it better. With both quality and quantity.

And they all buy in together. That's why they are the only unbeaten team in the country right now, and playing in the College Football Playoff semifinals on Friday night in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl here in Atlanta.

It all works for Indiana. Works very well. 

"I feel like having veterans on the field makes our job easy because we have that sense to where we've been through it before,'' said Indiana running back Kaelon Black, one of the JMU transfers who's used a redshirt year and COVID year and is 24 years old. "A lot of our players have been in the situations that we're going to be in, or have been in the past.

"I feel like that helps us to stay grounded. You look at us in the huddle. You have guys like (redshirt-senior center) Pat Coogan who has been around, and knows what he's talking about. You've got other leaders like Fernando (Mendoza) and players like that. We kind of have that mentality where we won't flinch.''

When those 11 guys are huddled up, ready for another play, there is no panic, no confusion and, certainly, no lack of confidence.

"We go in the huddle, regardless of the situation, regardless of where we are in the game, and we know that all it takes is for 11 guys to do their job,'' Black said. "We're here for a reason, because we have 11 guys that can do their job. We trust each other. We have that love for one another. When we get out there on the field, we know that we're going to put it on display.

"Being older, I think it does help us to know that we've been through it. We're battle-tested. We play for one another. I feel like that really helps us to experience that grit feeling. That helps us to win those games''

Indiana lineman Carter Smith, Bray Lynch and Khalil Benson were holdovers from the Tom Allen era. They had already worked under offensive line coach Bob Bostad for a year in 2023, and he's one of the best in the business. When Cignetti retained him, it was an easy decision for them to stay.

Mike Katic stayed, too, and took advantage of his fifth year to help lead the 2024 line. When was done, Cignetti plucked Pat Coogan from Notre Dame to be his starting center this year. The fit was perfect from Day 1, and Indiana's offensive line is one of the best in the game.

Sure, it's a cliche, but those five work as one like a smooth-running machine. And when backups have to step up, they've played well, too.

Indiana does a great job of protecting Mendoza, and they lead the way for Indiana's rushing attack, which is top-10 in the nation.

They simply wear down opponents, and dominate them. They seem like top-one in hammering people. That's why they have six wins by 45 points or more this season, and have flat-out embarrassed some teams, like then No. 9-ranked Illinois, who lost 63-10, and Purdue, which has gotten smoked 66-0 and 56-3 the past two years.

The best show of them all, though was last Thursday in the Rose Bowl. In what was a College Football Playoff quarterfinal, Indiana destroyed once-proud Alabama 38-3.

They broke them.

Broke them badly.

"The biggest part of our run game is being able to break down a defense's will. I think we've done that many times on film so far this year,'' said Indiana left tackle Carter Smith, who was the Big Ten's lineman of the year. (By the way, he's only 21 years old.) "We stick to our preparation. All the things that we do in practice are going to translate out onto the game field.

"Making sure we keep that speed and physicality throughout practice is kind of our edge-setter. It is definitely one of our strengths. Making sure that everybody's on top of that week after week after week is definitely one of the edges we have on the offense. Yeah, it's all about how you practice again. Making sure that you are on top of all the little things.'' 

Bostad gets a lot of credit from all of his players. They all agree, to a man, that he's the best line coach they've ever been around

"Yeah, I mean, he hammers the DNA of the offensive line into everybody in that room. He prides himself on preparation and repetition,'' Smith said. "Whenever he sees something that's different and something about a certain look that a defense will present, we're going to run through it like 15 to 20 times before we get into the game. That way, whatever we see it in the game, we fall back on our preparation.

"He has a great resume, has been throughout the NFL and all throughout college football. He was one of the main reasons I decided to stay here, too. I knew having a great offensive line coach was what I wanted. I knew I wanted to be his offensive lineman, too. Having those years under him, the way that he's able to restack his room, too, bringing in great guys for the room to lead, it shows just how valuable of an asset he is.''

Just how good is this offensive line? So good that Coogan was named the Rose Bowl's Most Valuable Player. "Only because they couldn't give it to all five of those guys,'' Cignetti said.

Coogan could laugh about it as well. "Yeah, that was a team award for sure. That's cool it happened. It's great for all of us.''

Kaelon Black was one of 13 players to come with Cignetti from James Madison to Indiana. To say it was one big package deal is a massive understatement.

"I feel like the transition was pretty good when we got here, actually great with us all coming,'' Black said. "I feel like we are all blessed to have the opportunity to come with Cig here.

"I feel like our culture has definitely changed. It's also changed for the better in terms of like the smart discipline, poise, fast, physical, relentless. Being able to do it on this definitely has been definitely a blessing so far. Just seeing these things shape, shift and turn has been great to see and be a part of.''

Many of the players who had been with Cignetti for several years already at James Madison made the move with a lot of confidence that they could succeed at Indiana together. None will admit to this level, of course, but they knew they could win. 

And they put in the work to make it happen. 

“The biggest thing for me was just continuing my development with coach Cignetti and (defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Bryant) Haines,” said middle linebacker Aiden Fisher, who turned 22 last month. “Him, coach Cignetti, and the system they put me in, and kind of the way I’ve seen myself grow so far, not only as a player but as a person and a leader, I didn’t see a reason to stop that, and it’s definitely something I wanted to keep chasing.”

Back at James Madison, Fisher said Cignetti sat him down and looked at Indiana's 2024 schedule. They talked about who would make the move, and players from other schools that Cignetti was talking too as well. They went through the schedule a game at a time, and saw a lot of wins.

"We felt like we could be really successful here, and of course we all really believe in Coach Cig. He's an incredible coach, not only from scheme and everything, but also just in the process of everything, how we practice, how we hit the weight room, how we all work so well together.

"We felt like we could win when we got here, and then we just kept building on it day after day. Coach always talks about stacking great days, and we do that. That's why we're so confident, and it's why we feel like we're going to win every game we play. We learned that from last year, to be honest. Those two losses (to Ohio State and Notre Dame) taught us a lot about ourselves. We knew we had to be better, but we also knew we weren't far off.'' 

Not far off? Now they are just two wins away from a national championship. At Indiana, no less.

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