BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Fireworks exploded and a sellout towel-waving crowd at Memorial Stadium roared to greet an Indiana team that won its 10th game for the first time in team history.

Coach Curt Cignetti, who oversaw the most impressive first season in college football history in recent memory, had fans chanting “Raw! Raw!” Indiana, a bottom-tier program that hasn’t shared a Big Ten title since 1967 and has never made the College Football Playoff, improved to 10-0 with a 20-15 victory over national champion Michigan. Hoosiers for the first time since 1968. But there was no storm on Saturday, and Cignetti and many others walked away more relieved than triumphant.

The Indiana team, which won each of its first nine games by 14 or more points and entered Saturday leading with a score difference (419-123), experienced its first real scare when the 17-3 halftime lead was reduced to two points. five in the closing minutes. But Indiana’s defense saved the day, preventing Michigan from suffering a single first down on the game’s decisive possession. The Hoosiers, who entered at No. 8 in the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings and fell short due to a schedule lacking a Top 25 opponent, will be ranked No. 3 by Ohio State with a perfect record on Nov. 23.

“There aren’t a lot of style points, there aren’t a lot of people beating the drum saying Indiana should have scored higher … and all those things are good things, but the Indiana Hoosiers are 10-0,” Cignetti said.

He later added: “I’m glad we won. I don’t like the way we played.”

Indiana appeared to be on its way to its standard lopsided win, outscoring Michigan 228-94 in the first half and scoring two touchdowns from the standout quarterback. Kurtis Rourke. But the Hoosiers endured their worst offensive quarter of the season; This included Rourke’s interception near the goal line, leading to a Michigan field goal and just seven net yards in seven plays.

Michigan was able to take the lead and had a chance to tie with 9:35 left. daviswarren‘s pass on the two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete. Entering Saturday, Indiana’s offense ranked second nationally in scoring (46.6 ppg), continued to stall, but Ke’Shawn WilliamsWe only return punts because the primary returner is Myles Price He was injured and ran back 22 yards to set up IU’s field goal.

“I wasn’t too worried or curious,” said Williams, who led Indiana in receptions (6) and receiving yards (70). “When you perform like we’ve done all year long, there’s no doubt. We never sit on the sidelines like, ‘Damn, this could happen.’ We know when we go out there we’re going to do our part, we’re going to make things happen.”

The Hoosiers defense, which had improved significantly under Cignetti, once again stood up, forced three incomplete passes and then stopped Michigan. Peyton O’Leary a yard short of the marker on fourth-and-10. Indiana held Michigan to 69 yards on 34 carries and just one touchdown, which came after Michigan had a short field goal.

Two Indiana runs secured the win, aided by Michigan’s inexplicable decision not to call a timeout right after a timeout. Ty Son Lawton hurry.

“A lot of people will argue about Indiana, ‘Where should they be in the rankings? Should they be above this team?'” Aiden Fisher in question. “We’ll leave that to them. It’s not something we really care about. At the end of the day, what we care about is making sure we leave this field happy with our fans.”

Rourke completed just 3 of 10 passes for 16 yards and a second-half interception, well below his production. He said the surgically repaired thumb on his throwing hand has not hindered him and continues to improve, but he credited Michigan’s defense and said it had to be “near perfect” for Indiana to take the lead in the first half.

“These are the matches that really test you as a team, see if you can hang on, see if you can win tough matches,” Rourke said. he said. “We knew eventually we were going to get to a game where we were going to be close. We had to see what we were doing, so I’m really proud of how we handled it. Our defense stepped up big times. This is another big moment we have for the season.”

Cignetti stated that Saturday was the first game this season in which Indiana did not win with style points, and said, “Our numbers are through the roof.” Even brief periods of decline, such as last week’s 10-0 deficit at Michigan State, have been met with big rallies.

The narrow victory over a Michigan team with four losses (three losses in its previous four games) cost Indiana its next CFP ranking. But all of Indiana’s goals, which would have been unthinkable outside of the program when the season began, are still on the table.

“Championship teams find a way to win football games,” Cignetti said. “I can’t say enough about these guys. I don’t throw a lot of bouquets out there, but these guys have been pretty successful.”