BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana has spent coach Curt Cignetti’s entire two-year tenure defending its schedule strength to the doubters who didn’t believe the Hoosiers belonged in last year’s College Football Playoff because they hadn’t beaten a ranked team.

The doubters were back after the Hoosiers opened this season with wins over Old Dominion, Kennesaw State and Indiana State.

So on Saturday, when Indiana finally had a chance to prove the critics wrong, they did so emphatically — with a 63-10 rout over then-No. 9 Illinois.

The victory sent the Hoosiers up eight spots, to No. 11, in The Associated Press Top 25 , but players welcome the chance to keep proving the so-called experts wrong.

“A lot of people were saying (Illinois) was a lot more physical than us, they were going to com

See Full Page