No. 13 Indiana takes center stage as backup QB tries to keep perfect mark intact against Washington

The No. 13 Indiana Hoosiers see signs of success pretty much anywhere they turn these days.

Players and coaches are suddenly inundated with midweek interview requests as the newest darlings of college football. Network studio crews are moving their pregame shows to Indiana's campus. Fans talk incessantly about Indiana sitting atop the Big Ten standings and, yes, even what not-so-long ago seemed implausible — earning one of this year's 12 playoff spots.

And yet new coach Curt Cignetti wants his Hoosiers to ignore the revelry and focus on the mission — beating Washington on Saturday to keep their perfect record intact.

“I think it’s great exposure for the football program and the university,” Cignetti said when asked about having ESPN's “College Gameday” broadcast from Memorial Stadium, one week after Fox's Big Noon Saturday crew came to town. “Now we've got to do our part.”

So far, nobody's slowed down Indiana (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten), which has moved within one victory of matching the 1967 Rose Bowl team for the best start in school history and adding yet another chapter to this magical season.

Now, though, the Hoosiers face their toughest challenge yet — remaining unbowed despite lost starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke to a right thumb injury. He was injured in last week's 56-7 rout over Nebraska and had surgery Monday.

That means Tayven Jackson, a third-year player who grew up about an hour away from Bloomington, Indiana, is being asked to keep the momentum rolling. Jackson, once a highly-touted recruit, threw two TD passes in a 28-point second half after Rourke went down against the Cornhuskers.

Washington coach Jedd Fisch is wary of thinking Rourke's replacement may struggle on the big stage.

“If I was going off that small sample, I would say it doesn't look like he did too much different,” Fisch said, referring to Jackson's performance against Nebraska. “I would guess they'll make some adjustments. They will probably have some changes, but they certainly didn't make any big changes in that game.”

Jackson has completed 12 of 18 passes for 225 yards and three TDs in four games this season, primarily in mop-up duty. This week's challenge will be different.

The Huskies (4-3, 2-2) rank third in the FBS in pass efficiency defense, eighth in total defense and are 16th in scoring defense (17.0 points per game) though they haven't played anybody that looks quite like the Hoosiers. Indiana leads the FBS in scoring at 47.5 points, is second nationally with 28 TD runs and still has not trailed this season while Washignton has lost two of its last three.

Fisch knows what he's up against, even coming off a bye.

“They're playing fantastic football,” Fisch said. “They're scoring a ton of points, they're certainly in that conversation of being one of the best teams in the country right now."

Cignetti just doesn't want his players reacting the plaudits. Rather, he just wants them to keep proving they deserve the recognition by emerging victorious each Saturday.

“We’re winning games, creating a lot of excitement and that adds to the excitement,” Cignetti said, referring to the studio crews. “Once again, we've got to do our part.”

Penix parallels

Heisman Trophy finalist Michael Penix Jr. isn't expected to attend Saturday's game like he did three weeks ago when Washington beat then-No. 10 Michigan 27-17 in a rematch of January's national championship game. But make no mistake, Penix had a significant impact on both colleges he attended, which meet this weekend for the first time as Big Ten members.

Penix helped the Hoosiers post their best season in decades in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season when Indiana went 6-2. After transferring to Washington in 2022, where he was reunited with former Hoosiers offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer, he got the Huskies within one win of their first national title since 1991.

Impressive rebuild

Perhaps nobody is more impressed with what Cignetti has done in his first 10 months with Indiana than Fisch — and for good reason.

Fisch left Arizona for Washington in mid-January, taking over a team that lost 21 starters from last season. Cignetti, meanwhile, was hired in late November and has excelled after bringing in more than 50 new faces.

What's different?

“I think his quote was that he was really looking more for production than potential and that December, January, that's the portal you want to build your team off, that winter portal.” Fisch said. “I thought they did a great job with that. They found a great quarterback (Rourke) and just did a great job.”

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