INDIANAPOLIS — Now retired, Michigan fans Glenn and Elizabeth Pluhar have time on their hands. Time to follow the Wolverines to their third-straight Big Ten championship.
“We’ll always try to make it here when Michigan is here,” Elizabeth Pluhar said.
The Pluhars live a couple hours north of Ann Arbor, which is a four-hour drive to Indianapolis. They haven’t had a chance to come he for the championship game before this year, but so far, Indianapolis has exceeded expectations.
“I’m amazed at how clean the city is,” Glenn Pluhar said. “It looks like there’s a lot to do, although we didn’t have the luxury of spending a lot of time here because we drove in.”
Indianapolis has hosted the Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium since its inception in 2011. With Washington, Oregon, UCLA, and USC joining the conference next year, though, the Big Ten said it will consider bids from a variety of cities — including on the West Coast.
More: What happens in Vegas… may not be the Big Ten football championship game.
Ahead of the Big Ten Championship Game between Michigan and Iowa on Saturday, IndyStar talked to Michigan and Iowa fans outside the stadium
The two fanbases agreed on one thing: They don’t want the Big Ten Championship Game to move to the West Coast, whether that be Las Vegas, Southern California, or anywhere else.
“Indy has a good reputation of putting on a good show for events,” Michigan fan Jake Castle said. “It’s also a good neutral site.”
Proximity was one of the main factors Castle likes about Indianapolis as a host — no matter what current Big Ten team makes the championship, he said, it’s within the same part of the country.
Dave Rozendaal, an Iowa fan who now lives in Missouri, also likes the proximity. Iowa City is about five and a half hours from Indianapolis; where Rozendaal lives is about seven hours.
“It’s an easy, easy drive to get here,” Rozendaal said. “There’s lots of room to spread out, and it’s a wonderful venue.”
When it comes to the Big Ten Championship Game, Michigan fan Joe Feliz doesn’t think there is any competitive advantage with the West Coast teams potentially coming to the Eastern side of the country.
“I think it’s pretty even for them to get into the Big Ten championship game,” Feliz said. “They would have already had to beat teams on the east coast, and I don’t think having it here would be a big enough advantage for one of the original Big Ten teams.”
And before the game can come to the West Coast, Rozendaal thinks those teams need to prove themselves.
“I know that they’re bringing in those schools from the West Coast, so I’m sure that’s what’s helping make that decision,” Rozendaal said. “I think, still, if they’re going to come to the Big Ten, they need to come to the Midwest.
“Let’s let them develop and get into the conference first, and then if they have good years of work here, so be it.”
Simply put, it was an ugly showing for the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
The team lost their 8th game of the regular season against the Denver Broncos in a tough road battle, 31-13, but one that Indianapolis ultimately beat themselves in with tons of miscues and mistakes that took them out of contention for what many saw as a must-win game for their postseason aspirations.
A lot could be said about the game’s outcome, but ESPN’s Stephen Holder put things bluntly when asked to describe the Colts’ performance in two simple words: “missed opportunities.”
“The Colts had multiple chances to take control while Denver was struggling with turnovers,” Holder said. “But their best opportunity was blown when running back Jonathan Taylor let go of the ball before he crossed the goal line on a 41-yard run early in the third quarter. The Broncos scored the final 24 points of the game after that mistake.”
Call overturned! This TD was ruled a touchback 😳 pic.twitter.com/jRlTeq9QQs
— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2024
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It was Jonathan Taylor’s missed touchdown score in the third quarter that was truly a catalyst for disaster as this game unraveled in the second half. Rather than potentially taking a 20-7 lead to go up two scores after halftime, the play was ruled a fumble and touchback, parlaying into a Broncos comeback and domination later in the game.
Even outside of Taylor’s viral blunder, that was far from the only screw-up the Colts suffered in the second half. After the touchback, Indianapolis was on the losing end of a 0-24 run commanded by the Broncos, this showed a strong effort on both sides of the ball to overcome a sputtering Indianapolis attack. AD Mitchell’s trick play that landed in the hands of Nik Boniito was another.
For a game in which a win was desperately needed for their playoff hopes, the Colts needed a consistent effort in all four quarters. They didn’t get that. Indianapolis now drops to 6-8 on the year and stands two games out of the Wild Card picture, with diminishing optimism to grasp onto for the final stretch of the season.
The Colts will need to get back on track next Sunday if they want any hopes of getting back into the playoff hunt, as the 3-11 Tennessee Titans travel to Lucas Oil Stadium for a classic divisional bout.
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Straight Arrow News
Indianapolis has a new all-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse.
Florida-based Terra Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse opened at Fashion Mall Commons, 8487 Union Chapel Rd., last week.
Fans of Fogo de Chao will be familiar with the concept that has servers roaming the dining room to slice slow-roasted meats onto plates tableside and the availability of an all-you-can-eat hot and cold food bar with cured meats, cheeses, salads, soups and sides.
The Terra Gaucha owners are former Fogo de Chao restaurants, said native Brazilian Paulo Simonetti, one of the four founders.
Simonetti spent 23 years at Fogo de Chao for 23 years, having joined the company in 2001 when it operated only three stores.
His team launched Terra Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse in 2015 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Indianapolis store is the company’s fourth.
Of the two largest churrascaria chains – Fogo de Chao and Texas de Brazil – only Fogo has a location in Indiana, an Indianapolis restaurant at 117 E. Washington.
Diners will find some items not offered at Fogo de Chao.
Lobster bisque is a soup option along with pork belly feijoada on the food bar.
Unique items include lettuce wedge salads, cake made with corn flour and a banana cream.
Servers there bring around grilled salmon and beef ribs are sliced tableside. Grilled pineapple coated in cinnamon and brown sugar is another offering.
The full all-you-can eat meats experience in Indianapolis is $59.95 per adult for dinner Monday through Friday and $49.95 for brunch on Saturday and Sunday. A chicken and seafood dinner option is available for $41.95 Monday through Friday and $38.95 on weekends.
The all-you-can-eat food bar alone for dinner is $29.95.
The full meats experience for lunch Monday through Friday is $39.95, with the chicken and seafood option at $31.95, and the food bar alone at $19.95.
The Indianapolis restaurant, which seats about 300 people and has private dining rooms for meetings, operates seven days a week.
Terra Gaucha will be open for dine-in service on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
For more information, visit terragaucha.com.
The Denver Broncos secured an important win with a 31-13 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon. Check out the game highlights below.
Up next for the Broncos is a Thursday Night Football road game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 16. If Denver beats L.A., the Broncos will clinch a spot in the NFL playoffs with two games remaining.
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