Asked and answered

 Well, now. I guess that takes care of THAT.

Can Indiana play?

Yes, Indiana can play.

Are the Hoosiers for real?

Yes, the Hoosiers are for real.

Are they still unbeaten and untried?

Well ...

I mean, Illinois tried. The Illini did. They just got tsunamied.

By 53 points, they got tsunamied. The final was 63-10, and, listen, I'm not gonna be That Guy. I'm not gonna be the prisoner-of-the-moment guy who watches the Hoosiers treat the ninth-ranked team in the nation like it was Directional Illinois instead of For Real Illinois, and decides this Indiana team is GOING TO THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF again this year.

On the other hand, I'm not gonna say they won't, either.

What I will say is when you pile up 31 first downs and 579 total yards against another ranked Big Ten team, and out-rush it 312 yards to 2, and hold it to nine first downs and 161 total yards while sacking its quarterback five times ... people will talk. They'll take notice. They'll say, "Gee, either Indiana is really, really good, or Illinois is nowhere near as good as it was cracked up to be."

Because truthfully there was probably a bit of the latter at work last night, too. 

On the other hand, these are the same Illini who went down to North Carolina a couple of weeks ago and rinse-cycled Duke -- a legitimate team from a legitimate Power 4 conference -- by four touchdowns a couple weeks ago. The same Duke, by the way, who rinse-cycled previously unbeaten North Carolina State 45-33 last night.

So, you know, Illinois isn't exactly Kennesaw State, either. Or Old Dominion or Indiana State, either.

Those were the three warm bodies with whom Indiana opened the season, leaving it an open question as to just how good Curt Cignetti's second Hoosiers edition was. Needless to say, that question was more than asked and answered Saturday night.

Because here was quarterback Fernando Mendoza pretty much doing to Illinois what he did to Indiana State last week, completing 21-of-23 passes for 267 yards and five touchdowns.

And here were Elijah Surratt and Omar Cooper Jr. catching 15 of those throws for a combined 170 yards and three of the five sixes.

And here were Khobie Martin, Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby lugging the pill a combined 36 times for 261 yards and three more scores. Martin (12 carries for 107) and Black (10 for 89) both averaged a percentage point under nine yards per tote.

It all added up to another milestone deal for Cignetti, who was his usual obnoxious self in the postgame, saying Indiana broke the Illini's spirit. It likely did no such thing, but you can get away with that sort of bloviation when you laminate someone 63-10.

Also when you become the first Indiana coach to beat a top-ten team in Bloomington since the Bucket game in 1967, when Harry Gonso, John Isenbarger and Jade Butcher did their thing for John Pont against No. 3 Purdue. That's 58 years to you and me, kids.

So what's next for the lineal descendants of Gonso, Isenbarger et al?

Next week they're at Iowa, which handled Rutgers 38-28 on the road yesterday. Then they're at No. 6 Oregon. Later on they get No. 2 Penn State in Happy Valley. So we shall see what we shall see.

One thing's for sure now, though: It oughta be some quality entertainement.