It was a tough task at hand for the Indiana Hoosiers to contain the vaunted pass-rushing duo of Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor of the Miami Hurricanes, but Curt Cignetti's team found a way. Although Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza was sacked three times in this game, once by Bain and twice by Mesidor, he saved his best for when the game absolutely required it.
However, Cignetti cannot afford to sweep this glaring weakness under the rug at Indiana, even if he did lead Indiana to its first national championship in program history. The Hoosiers have an issue at right tackle. It was a tough day for Kahlil Benson having to go up against Bain and Mesidor. While Indiana did win the national championship 27-21 on Miami's turf, who is replacing Benson next year?
Benson is 23, going on 24. He will off to the NFL now. Although Indiana did put together another strong transfer portal class, the Hoosiers have not addressed offensive tackle yet. Of the 14 players they have coming in, only one plays along the offensive line. That would be interior offensive lineman Joe Brunner coming over from Wisconsin. Surely, Cignetti will figure this out. He is going to have to...
Mendoza's clutch gene helped propel Indiana in the end, but he was still under pressure all night long.
Miami pass rush showed Indiana has to get better out at the tackle spots
Although the day and age of teams repeating as national champions seem to be over with and done in the 12-team College Football Playoff era, good luck telling that to Cignetti, his players, and his staff. Indiana has a chance to do what only Georgia has done in the playoff era by potentially repeating. Granted, Georgia did it in a four-team playoff. The Bulldogs have not won a game in the 12-team field.
Right now, Indiana has undeniably asserted itself among the very best programs in college football today. They are one of only two teams to make the 12-team College Football Playoff in back-to-back seasons. The other three are Georgia, Ohio State, and Oregon. That is good company for all four programs to be a part of. That being said, the other three recruit way better than IU out of high school.
So what is Indiana to do now that Benson's college career is over? Indiana can still target whoever it wants in the portal. Players like Alberto Mendoza just declared in the immediate aftermath of the title bout victory. Yes, there are still players out there to be had, but spring semester is about to fully begin, if it has not already. Indiana is likely a playoff team again next year, but this is why repeating is so hard.
If Indiana were to go up against another filthy pass rush next playoff, the game might go differently.