Ohio
Indiana football undisputed No. 1, Big Ten champions over Ohio State
INDIANAPOLIS — There was a lot of losing over the last 80 years — the third-most losses in the sport’s history — but Curt Cignetti has brought Indiana football to the top of college football.
It was far from perfect, but the Hoosiers clinched their first outright Big Ten championship since 1945 in their first championship game appearance and in front a predominately Hoosiers crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium. When Ohio State kicker Jayden Fielding’s 27-yard attempt was pushed wide left with 2:48 to play, it left the ball in Fernando Mendoza’s hands.
Mendoza threw a game-clinching 33-yard pass to Charlie Becker on third-and-6, leaving Ohio State with all but one timeout spent and a chance to run out the clock. They punted it and pinned Ohio State without timeouts at its own 14 with 18 seconds left, and the defense took care of the rest.
Here’s what I liked and disliked, and what the Hoosiers’ historic win means.
What I liked in IU football’s win vs Ohio State in Big Ten championship game
- Pressure. Julian Sayin hadn’t seen it like this yet in 2025. Ohio State’s quarterback entered play Saturday night having taken just six sacks all season, and two in a game just once (Purdue, Nov. 8). Indiana rolled up three in the first half alone, plus more productive pressure, hurrying Sayin enough to get and largely keep him out of rhythm. It was a big part of the reason why Indiana actually outgained Ohio State in the first half.
- Mendoza dialing it up deep. Indiana tried a pair of deep shots in the first half that Fernando Mendoza couldn’t quite find. That didn’t stop the Hoosiers trying to take the top off Ohio State’s defense and eventually it paid off, first with a pass interference penalty and then with a 51-yard third-quarter gain to Charlie Becker that set up Mendoza’s first touchdown pass. The willingness to stretch the field kept Ohio State honest to such an extent that it backed pressure off and let Mendoza get comfortable.
- Tough running. The Hoosiers could not pop the explosives that have defined their most dominant performances. But they did not abandon the ground game, to their credit. More than once, a commitment to the run, even in the face of Ohio State’s defensive strength, flipped a field or extended a drive. It might not have been flashy, but the willingness to commit to it added up.
What I disliked in IU football’s win vs Ohio State in Big Ten championship game
- Special teams miscues. Nico Radicic’s first-half miss, his first on a field goal attempt all season, hardly paralleled the sins of last season in Columbus. But the margins are so painfully thin against this Ohio State team. The difference between needing a touchdown and needing a field goal might not feel so seismic in the second quarter, but it will in the fourth. Couple this to a handful of first-half penalties, and Cignetti will have wanted to get some fundamentals cleaned up at halftime.
- Injuries. Mendoza got a scare early, on a hard hit from Caden Curry. He was fine, but just plays later Omar Cooper Jr., IU’s leading receiver, limped off for the rest of the evening. Mikail Kamara continued to battle an assortment of problems as the evening wore on. Both injuries and apparent performance shuffled Indiana’s offensive line. It was a bruising evening in Indianapolis.
- Finishing drives. Hard to beat the best with field goals, something IU learned Saturday. More than once, an explosive play opened the door to a touchdown Ohio State’s smothering defense promptly closed. On an evening when the finest details mattered most, those missed opportunities ratcheted up Cignetti’s stress.
What IU football’s win vs Ohio State in Big Ten championship game means
History. For the first time since 1945, the Hoosiers have an outright Big Ten championship. The College Football Playoff committee had essentially locked IU into a bye and then Cignetti claimed nobody had earned it.
His Hoosiers earned it, and the No. 1 seed and a Rose Bowl berth Jan. 1.
Want more Hoosiers coverage? Sign up for IndyStar’s Hoosiers newsletter. Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU Athletics-centric podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the latest on IndyStar TV: Hoosiers.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — As concerns have grown over the impact of social media on young people, lawmakers are pushing to keep protections in tact to keep children safe online.
This week the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ohio’s law, the Social Media Parental Notification Act, requiring parental consent for children under the age of 16 to use social media must be restored. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the act into law in July 2023.
Netchoice, the trade group that represents Tik Tok, Snapchat, Meta and other tech companies contested Ohio’s law in 2024, arguing that it was overly broad, vague and represented an unconstitutional impediment to free speech.
“An unconstitutional law protects no one, and we remain focused on ensuring the First Amendment rights of Ohioans are protected,” Paul Taske, NetChoice Litigation Center Director said.
Cincinnati-based Sixth Circuit’s panel does not agree with this view point, determined that the law is not unconstitutional and had the block on the law’s enforcement vacated.
“At bottom, the Act imposes a parental consent requirement,” Judge Eric Clay wrote. “That requirement constitutes a marginal burden that precisely targets the multi-faceted problem that Ohio has identified: Children’s unsupervised assent to terms and conditions for use of platforms that take advantage of and harm them.”
The Social Media Parental Notification Act is a way to protect children’s mental health against the “intentionally addictive” nature of social media, according to U.S. senator Jon Husted.
The law requires companies to get parental permission for social media and gaming apps and to provide their privacy guidelines so families know what content would be censored or moderated on their child’s profile.
Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson says the ruling is “a win for Ohio families.”
“The court agreed that parents –- not social media companies –- should get a say in what kids see online,” he said in a statement. “We have an obligation to keep our children safe, and today, the most dangerous place for our kids is the internet. This decision gives parents the tools to be involved and provide oversight.”
LICKING COUNTY, Ohio (WCMH) — When you think of wild animals in central Ohio, a black bear likely isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. That’s why one Licking County family said they couldn’t believe their eyes.
It was an average afternoon drive home for father and son, Justin and Aaron Rhodes, when something walked into the road in front of them.
“I didn’t even think it was real at first, so that’s why I had to do the double take,” Justin said.
Aaron said he thought it was “just a weird looking dog”.
To their disbelief, it was a bear. The sighting comes just one year after the animal was spotted in Licking County for the first time in more than two decades.
“It’s kind of hard to believe that they’re even around this area,” Justin said. “I’ve lived in this area for about 24 years now, so it’s been quite a while, and I’ve never seen one before.”
These sightings are becoming more common. The Ohio Division of Wildlife said the black bear population is growing in the state, and they expect those trends to continue. Ohio saw a record number of confirmed sightings in 2025.
Lindsey Krusling, a wildlife communications specialist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said they are seeing more breeding females establish homes in the state, signaling the species is returning. Experts said the work restoring natural forest land is a big reason why.
“We’re starting to get some black bears coming in from neighboring states like Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky,” Krusling said. “They’re naturally crossing those state borders and coming back to Ohio because we have more of that habitat available to them, especially those forested areas.”
As the black bear population grows, the Division of Wildlife is expanding its research. They are putting radio collars on some bears they find in the state to help track data, such as if the bears are staying here, how far they’ve traveled and if they’re successfully having cubs.
“We’re trying to get quite a bit of data from these bears, and we’re super excited to see where this takes us,” Krusling said.
The research is in the beginning stages, but they expect population growth to continue, Krusling said.
Sighting reports can be submitted here to help the Division of Wildlife track black bear populations throughout the state.
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