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    IU football defeats UW. Ohio State, next College Football Playoffs 2024.
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    IU football defeats UW. Ohio State, next College Football Playoffs 2024.

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    The sun is shining and Lee Corso's eyes are shining and the scene is surreal in Bloomington, where one of the most popular football coaches in IU history is at ESPN College GameDay in front of Memorial Stadium. You are here to watch Curt Cignetti, the absolute best football coach in program history – yes, he is – lead this 2024 IU football team to its eighth straight win. The Hoosiers' victim this time is Washington at 31-17 as #iufb moves one step closer to a spot in the 2024 College Football Playoff.

    How many almost unbelievable facts can you pack into one paragraph? Reread the last one or stick around so we can tick them off checklist style:

    This is the best start in IU football history, tied with the 1967 Rose Bowl team, which lost its ninth game. These Hoosiers will play 9-0 at Michigan State next week.

    IU Football Insider: The Hoosiers are still legit and still undefeated after their 31-17 win over Washington

    IU Football vs. Washington Grades: Even with a backup QB, the 8-0 Hoosiers continue to be top contenders

    The No. 13 Hoosiers will likely move up in the polls after this, and they absolutely have one of the 12 most impressive resumes in the country to date. How many spots are there in the expanded College Football Playoff format? Twelve.

    IU hasn't trailed for a second this season – only No. 23 Army (7-0) can say the same thing, but in one fewer game and against a much weaker squad — and the Hoosiers are the only team in college football to do so and haven't allowed a point in the first quarter.

    A crowd of 53,082 filled Memorial Stadium, tied with last week's game against Nebraska, the fourth-largest appearance in program history and the largest since 1979.

    The crowd was probably a little larger, however, as some special characters flocked to the stadium with ESPN's GameDay crew, most notably Corso and guest player Kyle Schwarber, the former IU baseball star who now plays with the Phillies. Only Kirk Herbstreit, already proving to be a noted lunatic, appeared on the GameDay set against the Hoosiers, with former Colts punter Pat McAfee declaring, “Give me the Indiana Hoosiers by a million points.”

    The Hoosiers didn't win by seven figures, but they won their eighth straight game by at least double digits. Those are the only eight games they have played this season. These are the only eight games that Cignetti coached here. This is no laughing matter, and IU football is no joke.

    IU football is a damn juggernaut.

    Lee Corso's day, Curt Cignetti's year

    Before kickoff, it's 57 degrees under blue skies and the biggest, most beautiful shadow you've ever seen – the sun shining high above a 154-foot-tall flagpole that was unveiled as the tallest in college football in 2013 and one on Saturday old shadow cast glory that covered almost half the field.

    Corso, wearing a vintage IU sweater like the one he wore on the sidelines here from 1973 to 1982, tries not to cry as Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson reads from a proclamation declaring “Coach Lee Corso Day “ is named in Bloomington.

    While the weather was perfect and the various dignitaries were all on hand, it looks like IU football is having the most perfect day of the most perfect season in school history. We could pick a few points and decide that last week's 56-7 win over Nebraska was more perfect, or perhaps the 42-13 loss to UCLA that served Cignetti's statement of intent in Los Angeles but makes the presence of Corso the tie nullified.

    The 89-year-old Corso, who still works office hours at the Ticonderoga pencil factory near his Orlando home, pulled double duty Saturday as an ESPN analyst and the coach of IU's 1979 football team were honored before the game .

    The day was so perfect that before kickoff, Cignetti told a story with a heavenly echo – and one that sounded a little hellish – when he visited the GameDay crew and recounted his first contact with Corso:

    “My dad overcame cancer when I was a senior in high school,” Cignetti said. “Lee sent a holy cross, which the letter described as having special healing powers, and which lay on his dresser from surgery until his recovery. (My father) beat cancer and lived another 43 years.”

    Cignetti then gave a glimpse into life with another of his mentors, former Alabama coach Nick Saban, who is now part of the ESPN GameDay crew.

    “I got my ass busted in the fourth quarter (in the blowout Alabama win),” Cignetti said, referring to his time with Saban.

    So Cignetti learned never to be satisfied.

    We saw it Saturday — you see it every time IU plays and hear it every time Cignetti speaks — after IU receiver Omar Cooper caught a 42-yard TD pass from backup IU quarterback Tayven Jackson had. Cooper was happily running off the field with other IU players when Cignetti grabbed him and then shut him down – nice for holding the football as he sprinted the final 25 yards into the end zone. Cignetti bent Cooper's ear for about 30 seconds, but at the end of their conversation he smiled fondly at future NFL receiver Lawrence North.

    Cignetti, the Big Ten's top candidate and national coach of the year, always practices, regardless of the outcome, and his team pays attention. We saw it in the first quarter when IU returner Myles Price punted at the 27, paused, then started dancing and spinning and finally went down for a 3-yard loss.

    Price's next punt return later in the first half: He immediately puts his right foot into the turf and shoots 18 yards.

    Price's next punt return comes in the fourth quarter: He quickly picks a lane and rushes 65 yards to the Washington 14. The Hoosiers took a 31-14 lead four plays later with 8:55 left.

    Game over.

    Coming soon: Undefeated IU football vs. Ohio State

    To understand what's happening with IU, look around the country. In particular, look at Columbus, Ohio, where the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated Nebraska 21-17 on Saturday. Do the math, OK? Ohio State, playing at home, beat Nebraska by four points – a week after IU, also at home, beat Nebraska by seven points touchdowns.

    A sentence like that reads like heresy — two of the most decorated football schools in NCAA history, plus IU — but it's just another example of the heavenly season taking place in Bloomington. It's almost biblical what's going on, whether it's Washington's star running back Jonah Coleman getting swallowed up by IU's defensive tackle Whale CJ West on his second carry… or how Cignetti has amassed an entire ark of talent :

    Two of everything.

    Two of the Big Ten's best defensive backs, both from Florida: Lake City's Amare Ferrell (two interceptions in the first seven games) and Miami's D'Angelo Ponds (two interceptions on Saturday, including one in which he rushed 65 yards for a touchdown returned).

    Two game-winning defensive linemen: West and Mikail Kamara (10 tackles, combined).

    Two All-Big Ten worthy linebackers: Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker (17 total tackles and two passes).

    Two elite running backs: Justice Ellison (29 carries, 123 yards) and Ty Son Lawton (12 carries, 41 yards).

    Two – plus two more – polished receivers: Price and Cooper… plus Miles Cross and Elijah Sarratt.

    Two top-notch quarterbacks: starter Kurtis Rourke – a rising Heisman Trophy candidate after seven games who missed this game after thumb surgery – and Jackson, who was better than his final line suggested (11-for-19 for 124 yards with one touchdown and one interception). Jackson would have liked a few passes back, especially the potential 34-yard touchdown to Sarratt, which he nullified by 10 yards, but he had three lost passes and a fourth incompletion interception that should have been ruled as defensive pass interference .

    Doesn't matter. Watch the way those quarterbacks interact on the sidelines — not to mention the running backs and receivers — and you can see the culture of selflessness that Cignetti has created at IU. The Hoosiers don't seem to care who gets the ball, the stats or even the go-ahead shot. They just want to get rid of whoever gets in their way next, and since we're retelling Bible stories here, let's get these out of the way now:

    When undefeated IU visits Ohio State on Nov. 23, it won't be David versus Goliath. This will be Goliath against Goliath, and the collision will send shockwaves throughout college football.

    Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/greggdoyelstar.

    More: Join the text conversation with sports columnist Gregg Doyel for insights, reader questions and behind-the-scenes insights from Doyel.

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