The Big Ten title game finished with a bit of a surprise; Indiana beat Ohio State for conference supremacy and the top seed in the College Football Playoff. Yet this game will reverberate more than just the Hoosiers winning the conference championship. Here are five takeaways from Saturday night’s thriller.

Curt Cignetti: The Best Football Coach In America

I’ve been singing his praises the past two seasons, and after an undefeated campaign that ended with Indiana the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, my belief is affirmed that Curt Cignetti is the best football coach in America, college or pro. What he’s done in two seasons is nothing short of miraculous, as Cignetti took a second-rate Indiana Hoosiers football program from the sewer and gained a surprise entry into the inaugural College Football Playoff in his first year on the job.

The program took another step this season with, sorry for the slight, inferior talent compared to Indiana’s competitors. Consider that the team Ohio State fielded Saturday night has at least a half-dozen players that will be first-round picks in the NFL draft and that number will likely expand. Indiana? Just one. From game preparation to in-game adjustments to maximizing his players’ potential, Cignetti, who has won at every level before arriving at Indiana, is a rare breed of football coach who is a joy to watch.

2025 Heisman Trophy Winner: Fernando Mendoza

I wrote on Thursday that the Big Ten title game would determine the winner of the Heisman Trophy, an opinion repeated by many throughout the weekend. And based off that game, Mendoza is sure to hold up the award this Saturday. After a shaky start in which he was laid out on the turf during Indiana’s first offensive series with what seemed to be a serious injury, Mendoza righted the ship and won the game. He wasn’t great, but he was good enough.

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In many ways, the game against Ohio State paralleled the Hoosiers’ contest last month against Penn State. Indiana was playing from behind at the start of the second half and without the services of a star receiver. Against Penn State, the offense was missing Elijah Surrat. On Saturday, Omar Cooper Jr. left the contest early and did not return. And in both cases, Mendoza tapped sophomore Charlie Becker to fill in and make big play after big play. Mendoza was efficient, mistake-free for the most part, and came up big in the big spot. It will all add up to his name being added to the list of Heisman Trophy winners this year.

NFL scouting opinions will vary on Julian Sayin

Had Sayin been able to get Ohio State into the end zone either of the two times the team was in the red zone during the second half, and the Buckeyes held on to win, there’s a good chance he would’ve won the Heisman Trophy. But he didn’t, so he won’t win the award. Sayin is poised and smart, rarely makes mistakes, and has been incredibly productive as well as successful as a first-year starter.

Despite this loss, Sayin and the Buckeyes head towards the College Football Playoff as the betting favorites. Yet, Indiana had Sayin rattled, and he struggled on Saturday like no other time this season. Though only a redshirt freshman, it’s easy to identify that Sayin has next-level intelligence, accuracy, and playmaking ability, but he’s small and won’t get much bigger. The inability to gain the yard needed on fourth and short in the third quarter, ending up with the Buckeyes turning the ball over to the Hoosiers on downs, was telling.

The Ohio State program lists Sayin at 6-foot-1 and 208 pounds, meaning he’s likely a little over six feet tall and 200 pounds, and he does not possess a big frame. Sayin is a great quarterback with a lot of next-level ability, yet comparisons will ultimately be made to Bryce Young, the first pick of the 2023 draft, who has struggled in large part due to a lack of size.

Indiana’s defensive ends: the little trains that could

When you mention top pass rushers in the nation, or the Big Ten for that matter, rarely do the names of Mikail Kamara or Stephen Daley enter the conversation, yet the Hoosiers duo has terrorized opponents all season long and did as much to Sayin and the Buckeyes on Saturday.

Though accounting for just one sack this season, Kamara has 46 quarterback pressures to his credit, and his relentless style and ability to make plays in any direction made an impact during Indiana’s victory. Daley, a Kent State transfer, led the nation with 19 TFLs this season, recording one against the Buckeyes as well as one sack and a pair of hurries.

Neither player meets the metrics NFL teams want in an early or middle-round choice, as they are small and not very fast. Yet both will be playing Sunday football as situational pass rushers and special-teams players thanks to their approach to the game and non-stop motors.

D’Angelo Ponds: The little cornerback who plays big football

At first look, Hoosiers cornerback D’Angelo Ponds does not pass the eyeball test, as he’s barely 5-foot-9 and 175 pounds. Yet looks are deceiving in this case. A terrific cornerback who has been an indomitable force in the Hoosiers’ secondary all season long, Ponds was expected to be physically outmatched by the Buckeyes’ big-play, big-bodied receivers, Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, both future first-round picks in the NFL draft.

Yet it never happened. Ponds held his own the entire game, coming up with several big pass defenses, including one against Smith in the end zone as Ohio State tried to score, and helped contain the dynamic duo of the Buckeyes’ line-up at receiver. Score one for the little guy.