It is next to impossible to beat the Indiana Hoosiers when you beat yourself first. Dante Moore and the Oregon Ducks could not have a more miserable time in the first half of the Peach Bowl on Friday night. Moore turned the football over at will, and the Hoosiers capitalized on every chance they got. Curt Cignetti's team is an unstoppable force. Only Miami has a chance to slow them down now, y'all!
If you want proof of this, just look at how much the betting odds have jumped in IU's favor. Ahead of kick, Indiana had something like +120 odds of winning the national title over on FanDuel. After their first-half evisceration of the Ducks, that number jumped to -310 at halftime. Miami has +240 odds of winning at its home stadium on MLK Day night. Oregon is now at +17500 to win the national title...
Indiana took a gargantuan 35-7 lead into the halftime. Fernando Mendoza was playing like he wanted to purchase all of the real estate Las Vegas, Nevada could ever hope to offer. As for Moore, he played like he was already quarterbacking the New York Jets... The chances of him being QB2 have taken a massive hit from this first half. It might be Ty Simpson or even Trinidad Chambliss over him if he stays.
For now, Indiana might just put forth one of the most incredible seasons we have ever seen before.
Indiana has become a massive favorite to win the College Football Playoff
No, this is not the most talented team that made the College Football Playoff field. Not only is it the most well-coached, but it is the tightest team of the dozen who made it in. With one of the greatest leaders this sport has ever seen in Mendoza completely in his bag, there is not much Cignetti needs to do to cake walk to a national semifinals victory at this point. He can book his tickets to Miami now.
Overall, blowouts are just par for the course in the College Football Playoff. For every great game we get, we usually end up with two duds. Coming off the heels of one of the greatest finishes in Fiesta Bowl history on Thursday night between Miami and Ole Miss, an utter skull dragging like this was bound to happen. The big question now is if Indiana can keep its foot on the gas in the second half.
Ultimately, Oregon is talented enough to cut into the 28-point deficit in the second half. However, the Ducks cannot afford to turn the football over even one time. They have given the Hoosiers such incredible field position. It is going to take the greatest halftime speech in the history of the sport from Dan Lanning to pull off this monumental comeback. Indiana will likely be playing Miami in Miami.
The last time Oregon looked this pitiful might have been in Lanning's first game in this same venue...