Indiana Hoosiers On Top of the College Football World, Mark Makes the HOF, & 2026 Predictions

Buckeyes and Bloomington, guess who's got the target on them? Indiana. Cream and Crimson have the target on them. Not Scarlet and Gray. Cream and Crimson have the target on them with the Buckeyes in town. Welcome to the new world order of college football. Light it. The Triple Option is presented by Wendy's. Join team tendies and enjoy a lineup like never before. crispy, juicy, tendies, now at Wendy's. Welcome to the Triple Option. A triple option that is part of Indiana's National Championship run. I just said it. Indiana's national champions. Not in soccer, not in basketball, in college football. What world are we living in? It's a crazy world. So glad you're here with us. Rob Stone, the Hall of Famers. Urban Meyer, Mark Ingram II, as always. Thanks for joining us. If you enjoy the show, rate, subscribe, share. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever it is you locate your podcast. We are on social media, 3xOptionShow. Leave those questions. Leave those comments. We love to respond to them. Let's talk about what transpired on Monday, courtesy of any given Saturday. And the Hoosiers, the who, who, who, Hoosiers, are your national champions. They are just the second team to go 16-0 in college football since that legendary 1890, is it 497? I can't read my handwriting. 1890. Yale? Yeah, Yale. 1894, back in Yale to go 16-0. I just went out and threw a couple bucks on Wake Forest. Who else? UAB. Oh, you're already going deep. Who else can run it back? Massachusetts? Man. Think about it. What are we talking about? It's insane. Indiana's one of one, man. Indiana's one of one. Like, is this an outlier? Is this an outlier? Like, never to be done again? One million to one. One of one, man. Like, Signetti, what he's been able to do with this program, the buying he's had from his players, the support he's had from the NIL, the way he coaches, the group that he's assembled, they're one of one, man. I don't see this being replicated anytime soon. I agree. Spectacular. But we would have said there's no chance this would have ever happened. We're talking about replicating. I mean, 48 months ago, 12 months ago, you'd say, no way. Come on. I mean, that was a nice run with James Madison kids last year. Nobody had Indiana in the national championship this year. Even after last year, they went 12-2. We thought that they would be good. We didn't think they would be in the national title game winning it. Was there any point this season where you guys said to yourself, oh, wait, this team can win a national title? No. I remember when they went to Eugene and won, I was like, hey, they're here. But I still had this reservation. Even when they beat Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game. When they beat Bama. When they beat Bama. That was it, huh? Why? And then they solidified it with the same thromping of Oregon. Yeah. Like, when you see that going in the playoff, you're like, okay, they beat Ohio State. Even when you beat Ohio State, Mark, it was a two red zone opportunities by Ohio State that really Ohio State should have won the game. And I was there. We were all there. We're watching the game and who had better players or how to state. They did. You know, who, but my gosh, it's one of the greatest football teams of all time because we're going to go review the game here in a minute. Name a mistake they make. I can't. They don't. I'm not talking about like in a game Saturday. I'm talking about two years of studying this football team where they've had two losses in two years and the people on the other side got better that you got in a lot of those games. So, I mean, this is a monumental, and I'm never going to take away from those players because those aren't good players. Those are great players. Yes. But the NFL draft is going to show you there's, you know, the majority of that draft, the draft opportunity players are going to be mid to late, which is a credit to them. I mean, my gosh. Maximizing it. You said maximizing. Maximizing. Yeah. Most maximized team in the history of college. Every single team they played, other than a few of the, you know, non-conference games, we've always said the other team has better players. But this team plays hard. They put a chip on their shoulder. And they fight for one another, man. They coach well. They don't make mistakes. And, dog, this is just, like, I just can't believe it. They went 16-0 and won the natty, dog. Like, what are we talking about? So, Mark, I was there again. Mark, I was there again. I was there in the first playoff game. Not first. I was there against Oregon. 16-0. And walked around on the sideline again. And I was there with Tebow yesterday. And we were walking from drill to drill, drill to drill, drill to drill, again just staring at these guys. And the coaches, the business like Aiden Fisher and his linebacker Haynes, the D coordinator, the work, the efficiency, the confidence. Did you see Aiden Fisher rush over that tailback, the effort and the technique he used on the tailback, he gave him a little out-in, out, and he sacked the quarterback. And I just was watching him warm up, and I'm staring at these guys going, this is the – for a football coach that loved football, that the better part of my life has been in it, that was magical. That was really cool to watch. I can't wait for that movie to come out. Oh, Hoosier's part two. Oh, Jimmy Chitwood played by Fernando Mendoza. But you talk about those guys. Like ponds. Ponds, what, 5'9", a buck 80? And plays his ass off, man. Tight end going up to catch a high point of ball. He just goes and hits him clean and jars the ball loose. A big third down stop. You should have seen this kid warm up. This kid warmed up once again. I stood three feet from him. And he is, I'll tell you what, for what he doesn't have in this, he's got twitch. Yeah. He's put together and he's got great twitch and great instinct. And how about Big Ten Network guys told me last year, Signetti called him over, and this is preseason camp a year ago. They pointed upon us and said, that's our best football player. Wow. Big Ten Network guys was like, wow, that's great, but if that's your best player. Good luck. You know, you're 5'9". We're not going to be in Bloomington a whole lot. Yeah, you're not. We're not going to lift a national championship trophy in 24 months. And by the way, the coaching staff, the work that entire staff did, I know Signetti gets all the attention, and understandably and deservedly so. But those coordinators and the people underneath them as well, Coach, to your point, what they've done, how they've educated these players and schooled them and put them in the moments to succeed constantly, and they listen, they take in this knowledge. That staff is borderline legendary with what they did considering what they had. Together for nine years, and I didn't know this, BTN brought this up, that the defensive coordinator who GA'd for me in 2013, And I don't remember much because he was on the defensive side. I just didn't spend much time with him over there. And I asked Coach Fickle. I asked Coach Day about him. They tried to hire him. They said, oh, excellent coach. Obviously excellent coach. But they said he was on government assistance because he was making $10,000 a year working for IUP. And now he's making $3 million a year as a national champion defense court. And, by the way, he earned that $3 million. He did. That's one of those guys. Sometimes you scratch your head and say, does that guy earn that? Yeah. That defense is tough, man. That defense is tough. Oh, my God. And you continuously, you talk about the support staff, you talk about the coaching staff. That's one thing I admire about Coach Cignetti. He deflects the praise all the time. He's always saying it's about a process, a plan, a vision, and the people that you have in the building. We've been a part of some special teams. You've been a part of a special group of people. When you have the right people in a building who put their ulterior, ulterior their egos aside for the betterment of the team for one common goal. That's what this team has did. And it's because of the group that they assembled in that building. And that's why they had a special season because they had special people in the building. All right, let's pivot to some of the big moments, particularly in the second half. The first half was dominated by Indiana, you know, shutting out the hurricanes, heading to the locker room, all that energy. Things changed a little bit, but the biggest, I think probably the biggest play in the game was the block punt. It was a three-point game at this juncture. Third quarter, and Coach, you just call it an effort play? So as I went back and watched it, actually watched it again this morning, is that was a – they were in punt safe, Mark. They were just preparing to get a return. Yes. And if you think about pivotal moments, that's going to haunt the Hurricanes. There's three plays to my mind that they would be waking up national champions. It was an offsides penalty by Baines on a third down situation. It was a third and 17 face mask, but the most detrimental, the play that will haunt the Hurricanes. And punt safe, it was simply one guy going really, really hard against someone that didn't block him. It was the difference in the game. It was. And he got the MVP of the defense, and he should have got it. All he did is he out-efforted the Hurricanes on that play, put his left hand up, blocked the punt, scored touchdown, because the momentum was over. It was over. But think about the yardage differential in the second half. Miami kicked their ass in the second half now, Mark. And it felt that way. We were there. Yeah, 278 to 155, Coach. And give Miami credit. But Miami has kind of been a mistake team throughout the year a little bit. Because on paper, and future NFL players, I would probably say Miami was the better, most talented, more talented. I think that's pretty well. So I wouldn't say obvious because Indiana's got great talent. But Indiana, I mean, being there watching the two teams, Miami have better personnel. Listen, you talk about that block punt. Let's put this, let's just give them the grand scheme, right? Miami comes out, score a touchdown. You come on defense. You're about to get the ball back at midfield. Maybe even a big play with Malachi Tony. That's why you're a putt safe, coach. You're a putt safe because you're about to have a return, man, for your returner, and you guys are trying to scheme up. to get in better field position. It's 7-10. You get a block punt for a touchdown. Now it goes 17-7. You're supposed to get the ball back in midfield. That's essentially the difference in the game right there. It's 7-10. You lose by, what, six points? They get a touchdown off a block punt. That is the sole difference in the game, in my opinion. It gave Indiana some momentum, and it had Miami fighting uphill for the rest of the game. But Miami balled, man. You talked about Carson Beck. he played almost three flawless games, you know, other than the last play of the national championship game. He played almost three flawless games. Malachi Tony balled out. This kid is a dog. This kid goes, he inserts and blocks safeties and linebackers. Mark Fletcher Jr. toted to rock. They got some ball players, man. And if I'm Miami right now, they let one go. I feel that way because in the second half, they dominated. They came out, they made adjustments, they dominated, and one block field goal was the difference of the game. He lost by six points. So that made it 17-7. And then the next two big plays, and I had these circled, and I wrote them down, two fourth and five calls by Indiana. And it was funny. I was watching the NFL playoffs over the weekend with one of my buddies and his kids, and his kids are out of college and whatnot. And I said to them, I'm like, hey, youngsters, there was a time when if you looked over and it showed, you know, on the sticks fourth down, you're kicking the damn ball. You're, you're punting or you're going for the field goal, right? It didn't matter if it was fourth and two, three, four, whatever. You're kicking the damn ball. Now we live in this age where you're like fourth and five at the 37. Let's go for it. And, and that one for the, that's the first of two fourth and five calls on the same drive coach. You felt that one was, was a no brainer. That ended up to be another one of those classic back shoulder throws to Charlie Becker. What a job Becker did in the playoffs. But let's start with that first fourth and five call at the 37. Why did you like it? Well, the call, the decision, I would say. The decision, correct. Yeah, it's a no-brainer. That's a 100% decision. You can't punt it. And that's two out of, you practice that all the time. And you have a he looked right on his sheet That yard they practiced that However a back shoulder throw do you remember last year Mark They were doing the back shoulder throws too. Yeah. I mean, so that – you have to start giving credit to the coach because, first of all, Mendoza did it. He's a Heisman Trophy winner. Charlie Becker did it. He's a great football player. But that's not something you go out and, hey, let's go do that on fourth and five. They've done that 10,000 times. Yeah. They've done that all summer. They've done that in the offseason. Because he didn't baby that throw either. He threw it. He threw a back – I mean – Threw him open. One of the great plays, man. Charlie Becker coming down with it. In a three-point game, though, Coach, in a three-point game, it would have been a long field goal. You would have been more comfortable pushing to get the seven rather than maybe not a guaranteed three. You're talking about the 12-yard line or are you talking about the 37? No, I'm still at the 37. That's done, Mark. Yeah, 37, 47, 55-yard field goal, no. Okay. All right. So the other one was at the 12. And again, it was fourth and five. Okay. Different scenario for sure. Completely different scenario. Big, big boy run. So Jeremy Foley, my athletic director of Florida, would come in my office, and we would often just have a quick conversation. And he would always talk about certain situations that he's experienced as an AD that if you get in that position, you have to go. You know, that's a game-set match. That's game. because Miami went down and scored. Yeah. So that's a game-set match. The prior two possessions Miami had, they scored touchdowns. So three points in this. If I'm Signetti, three points is not doing me nothing. A six-point lead is not enough is what you're saying. The chance to go up two possessions was crucial and was critical in that part of the game. But go ahead and finish up, Coach. So we had a similar situation against Oklahoma when I had Tebow in the group, and we went for it because, you know, if you give them the ball, that's one of those things that you'll regret. And your players, you know, the players would probably look at you and say, why would we not do this at this? I mean, we've got here. Let's go win the damn game. And that was game, set, match. And the play call of all the iconic. So let's think of them. Vince Young, I'm a little biased. The Tebow jumped past in 08. I'm sure, Mark, you got some iconic plays from your national championship. but that Mendoza run, Rob, that'll go in the archives, in the history of college. You'll see that for the next 25 years on Highlight Reels. Coach, that statue material in Bloomington, the outstretched arms. Mark Cuban is, I'm sure, cutting the check right now. Mendoza airborne. And he should. He should. Yeah. He should. That was a big boy run, Coach. Fourth and five with the natty on the line. And he got hit. Yes. He got hit. Hey, Miami, we talk about them having dudes, right? We talk about them having dudes. I'm feeling that this morning while we're recording this. At the line to gain, at the five-yard mark, he drops his shoulder and runs over to Mike Linebacker. He bounces off, keeps his balance, extends, breaks the plane of the goal line, and gets hit in the back for the tutty. And lunges. Yes. I mean, that's a big boy run. That's the bronze statue, right? Yep. Going in the end zone. Yep. But to me, Coach, if you look at the last four Miami possessions, They had touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, interception on the final play of the game. You had to go. Signetti saw this. Signetti was like, we're in trouble here. They kind of made some adjustments. They figured us out. We're not slowing them down. I can't kick this field goal and lose this game. Because didn't they pull him off? Didn't he send the field goal team on? There was a timeout, I believe, coach, and there was real discussion. Yeah. Yeah. And I get it. You have to make that decision, and I respect it from Signetti. Because if you don't make that decision, the outcome of the game might be different. Because they did not slow down Malachi Tony. They did not slow down Mark Fletcher. Carson Beck was in his own. The offensive line was firing off the ball. The offense, the three prior possessions, they had three touchdowns, coach. We're not stopping them. I can't give them the ball back. Miami was a great-looking team, man. I stood next to Carson Beck for the first time. I stood next to him. That's a great-looking player. 6'4", I'm saying 230. and has a nice arm, nice down. And I know there's going to be a lot of – his legacy is going to be somewhat like he had so many chances. He played for two national championships, didn't really play at Georgia in those games. And then I think, Mark or Rob, you said he had eight times. Oh, he had late – Six losses. Six losses in college careers. Eight losses, six of the eight. Six of the eight, he had the ball in his hand. Yeah, and threw an interception. Yeah. And he was great through the playoffs, too, by the way. He was flawless, his playoff. He was what Miami needed. He was what Miami needed. I just wonder why he threw that last ball like that. It was double coverage, Mark. He predetermined. He looked like he said, I'm going to take this shot. Bro, you got time, man. Don't be desperate. You know what I mean? But Miami, the way I believe a football team is supposed to look is how Miami looked. I was skeptical of them early in the year. I thought they would win nine, ten games and not go much further. But how this offensive line was built, how they're built in the trenches. Then you have a running back. Then you have a receiver, a jack-of-all-trades, just an athlete who you get the ball to. Defensively, they play hard, they play tough. This is sustainable, what Mario Cristobal has built this year in Miami. And if they had Cam Ward on that team, I think that we might be talking about one of the best teams in the country. You know what I mean? So Cam Ward didn't have no defense like that when he was there. It's interesting you bring up the Cam Ward part, Mark, because in this day and age where we're getting one and dones at the quarterback spot, right? How many times are you sitting there saying, man, if we just had this guy for two years, we're here, but we could be here. And maybe Oregon's saying that right now. Like, we got Dante Moore. And guess what? Dante's coming back. And I know he can make a lot of money in the NFL, but I think the fact that Dante Moore is coming back for that second year at the same place gives Oregon a boost, is going to have Oregon in that top five in the preseason. And those are the little difference makers. between winning a national title and not winning a national title. I think that the template has all been set now. The Big Tens won it three years in a row. Most mature veteran teams. Experience. Every team, average age is what? Someone said they were about the same age as the NFL team. It was going out there that was like 25. That's what they were saying. Average playing, average experience was almost four years. Yeah. Someone threw that at me yesterday as well. So the Wolverines did it. The Buckeyes did it. I actually talked to Coach Day about that yesterday. We talked before the game, and he mentioned that, that everybody is now, and everyone's talking about it. How do we get a locker room of grown-ass men that's been through it? As opposed to coaching that 21-year-old, Mark, is a much different cry than that 18-year-old. You've got a grown-ass man with experience that understands the game. Coach, remember back in the day, who were the two programs that were doing it with the grown-ass men? In the state of Utah. BYU. BYU. Yeah. BYU and Utah, right? Yeah, yeah, go on that mission. come back a little bit bigger, a little bit faster, a little bit older, more mature, and that's why they had so much success as well. So the template is there. The Big Ten wins three straight national titles for the first time since the early 40s. Remember, it was Minnesota in 40, Minnesota in 41, and Ohio State in 42. Three straight Big Ten natties. The Big Ten. Four? The King. Four? Anybody want to call four in a row right now? The King of college football. Big Ten right now. Big Ten coffers. In Indiana, the Hoosiers. If it's four in a row, it's going to be the fourth different program to do it. It's going to be Oregon. Go ahead. There's your way too early call. If it's going to be four straight from the Big Ten, it's going to be Oregon doing it. Wow. Congratulations to Indiana, Matt. And thank you, college football, by the way. What a tremendous season and a college football playoff that it delivered. We'll see if there'll be more college football playoff games next year in the next couple days. coming up next. Who's going to be that next? Indiana. We'll talk about that. Our newest Hall of Famer. I'm looking at you. Mark gives us his last Deuce Deuce Dog of the Week for the season. And we go back in time when Indiana football and national championship seemed like an absolute impossibility. We frankly don't have to go all that far back. Welcome back to the Triple Option presented by Wendy's. Rob Urban, Mark here with you. Before we get our deuce deuce dog of the week you know who the real dog is coach right right over there the real dog of fame dog is the college football hall of famer mark ingram ii congratulations my man thank you brothers i appreciate it man hey how did you how did you find out so i get home from working out and i'm like just sitting here chilling and like i never opened packages or something but my wife like um she she she must have got there she got home she was home before me whatever and so there's like an overnight package getting delivered to the door and she gets it and she's like this must be important so she opens my package and she like sees like what's in it and she's like oh oh oh oh so she's like taping it up taping it up like and like she's taping it up and I get home and like you know I'm eating this I just finished my workout she Gave me a plate of food Or whatever And she's like Yo open this I'm like What is this She's like I don't know Something overnight You know what I mean So I get it And I open it And I look And I just see like The football I'm like Then I see the letter I'm like Hey Chelsea Come look at this And she's over there Recording me like this I said I said I said How you know about this I said You know about this You know I'll tell you of all my former players, all my former coaches, Mark, you've become family. We could be more. I know the Meyer family. They all texted you, right? They all called you. Yes. Michelle called me first time. You are. Nicky hit me up. Since you joined Big Noon and this, you're family, bro. We are so excited for you. I love them. Name another guy more deserved than that, Rob. I appreciate it. Mark Anger. What you've done for college football, are you kidding me? I appreciate it. No-brainer. No-brainer. Should have been last year. We'll get to that one in a second. Should have been going in with you. Should have been a double party. we also want to extend some congratulations to others who are going into the college football hall of fame next year yeah yeah our coach coach hey by the way coach patterson gary patterson who might be getting back into the game what a job he did at tcu indomica sue uh marvin harrison one of the wow aaron donald aaron donald uh what a great class for me to go in with man i had some teammates that i played with i played with olin crutch who's going in there he was i was a rookie He was on like year 14. I played with James Laurinaitis, Ohio State Buckeye legend. Eric Weddle, very familiar with him. Wow. Played against him. I recruited him, yeah. Yep. Garrison Hurst, a legendary running back. Like, what a great class to be able to go on with. I'm so honored. I'm so thankful. It means the world to me. I'm just a young brother from Flint, Michigan, with hopes and dreams of being the best footballer that I could be. And, man, check your boy out, Stone. There she is. There she is. Looks good. You know, what's really neat about the class, Mark, too, is so in Vegas, you don't really get to know the class you're going in with. But when they rerun it in January at the Peach Bowl, it's just you guys. And so actually in the Hall of Fame, you're going to see the class of 2026. You're forever. That's going to be your class. And we talked about it. Everybody got up to speak. And it got real emotional, more emotional in Atlanta. than it was in Vegas. Vegas is just a big crowd. Yeah. And, but it's really tight. You really get to know. I think Vegas is more for your family than the Peach Bowl and the Hall of Fame. Actual is more for the class of 2026. But let me read this to you. Is that the class you got? Wow. This messed me up, Stone. This messed me up. Let me read this to you. So they send you a letter, right? It says, You are joining an elite group. Of the 5.78 million who have played and coached the game, Just over 1,300 individuals in the history of our sport have earned interest into the College Football Hall of Fame. In other words, less than 1% of players, coaches all time, have been worthy of this distinction. And now you're one of them. Nice. Does it have like that Gaelic script type handwriting Oh there it is Nice So you know it funny The three of us were together in Norman oklahoma a couple weeks ago for that first college football playoff game and we hung out with the hall of famer coach stoops coach stoops knew he did he knew at the live show and he was just he can all in my face didn't want to give me no type of inkling no type of hint but no i appreciate coach stoops because that was a great way to find out opening up the letter you know they was like We're going to announce it at 2 o'clock, and that was just a blessed day, man. I'm just so honored and thankful, man. I'm fortunate to be around some great people. Coach Cignetti said that, you know, it was all about the people he was around. It was all about the people I was around. I had great coaches. I had great teammates. I had great trainers. I had great academic advisors. I had so many people around me, family, friends, and support that. It's for all of us. It's for everyone, man, and I couldn't have did it without everyone that helped me, and I'm just so thankful, and God is extremely good. it's another thing to go ahead and add to the list man because god blessed me with this talent and this ability it's up to me to give it back to him so i'm just so thankful and appreciative that god blessed me with this platform it's it's an awesome honor we're so proud of both of you guys uh but there is room for critique here and and i've got a couple beefs with the college football hall of fame number one and i think all hall of fames are all great places that are honoring people need to show a little flexibility like coach last year and mark this year i was sick i was sick that we your big noon family couldn't announce it and pop it on you and bring it up um i i i i think putting it on a bigger platform would have served the college football hall of fame uh to to a higher calling and i would have loved that and some of that is certainly selfish as well because i would have loved to jumped in you and give me a big hug and then thrown you in a thrown you in a pool number number two is listen you know and this happens at all hall of fames there's some great guys that didn't get in for now last year we were like why is mark not going in right all right so he's gonna be a year two guy this year you look at and i know i know he's i know he's a barner no cam newton he's real listen what cam newton did he he should be there with you and and he's he's not and uh you know the the voting is a little bit nebulous out there you're not really sure what it is you're looking for. And it's not like you have to say, hey, you got to run for this many yards and catch this many passes and do this many wins to get in. But it is odd. Like it does feel like Cam should be there with you. Yeah. Like, yeah, last year, you know, I was very kind of hurt that I wasn't going in with Coach Meyer and Coach Saban. You know, obviously Coach Saban was my coach who recruited me. And obviously Coach Meyer, someone who I've gotten extremely close with is my family. His family is my family. And then now So I was wondering why I didn't go first ballot. So I don't know what it takes to be a first ballot college football Hall of Famer, being the first in the Heisman in Alabama history, nearly 2,000 scrimmage yards, undefeated, 20 touchdowns, national championship. Now you have Cam Newton who comes on the ballot. And I don't care Auburn or not, this dude had probably the most dominant season from a player that we've seen in college football. You know, we have Joe Burrow, you have Reggie Bush, you have Tebow, but Cam Newton, nearly 3,000 pass yards, almost 1,500 rush yards, 30 passing touchdowns, 20 rushing touchdowns, totaling 50 touchdowns, like perfect 14-0 season, BCS national champion, high-dumb trophy winner. What else I got to do? If that's not first ballot, I mean, other than Coach Meyer, Coach Saban, I know they are the most legendary coaches in college football history, so they went first ballot. But as a player, I'm not sure what it takes for you to be college football, Hall of Famer, first ballot. And I'm kind of just appalled by Cam Newton not being on it. I was appalled by myself, humbly, not being there. Yeah, yeah, I get it. But definitely Cam Newton not being first ballot. I'm going to have to look back and see who has been first ballot players. Cam will be there. Cam will be there, but just not this time. Oh, yeah, he'll be there next year. He'll be there. I'm not sure what it is, but he'll be there next year. RG3 was on the ballot. I think he was the first in Baylor history. He had a crazy season. So he'll be there too. But, you know, we're just not sure what it takes to be a first ballot College Football Hall of Famer at this moment. Regardless, we have two College Football Hall of Famers on the triple option presented by Wendy's. Where can you get that at? I don't know. I don't know. Look around. Look around. Have at it. Or just hang out with us all the time. All right, here it is. Coach, open up your senses. Get ready for sensory overload. It is time for the final Deuce Deuce. The finale? Dog of the week. The final Deuce Deuce Dog of the week, man. You know who we got to go with. We got to go with your boy, Fernando, my Heisman brother, Mendoza. And why? The statistics, they're not sexy, but he did exactly what was needed to be done. He got cheap shot in the chin when he wasn't looking. He got hit, you know, blindside shots. He was getting smacked, and he was just getting up, and he was just making throws on fourth and sixth to Charlie Becker. He was making throws on third and long to Surratt. He was making throws to Omar Cooper, Jr. He was running to Mike Linebacker over. Boom, on fourth and five for a 12-yard touchdown run to go up by two possessions. The Heisman brother, the man who led Indiana to a perfect 16-0 season. It's not just about the national championship game. It's about what he did all season long. And it's Fernando, Heisman brother, Mendoza. Heisman-Dosa for the hurrah, hurrah, hurrah. Deuce, deuce, dog of the week. Because he did that. And he really is that. Can you even imagine that there was a Heisman debate? I know the season that some of the other great players in college football have. But looking back now, you're like, of course it was Mendoza to win the Heisman. No, I don't see that, Rob. I see him midseason as no. No, in seven games he threw five picks at one point. He was averaging under two yards per game, throwing the ball. Looked quite average in a few games. And then everybody's remembering these last five games. These last five games, Bodimah Heisman, probably a $30 million contract in the NFL. Todd McShay, myself, said he should go back to college. So I just think it was a little bit of a Joe Burrow type. I mean, last year he's a good player. But I just think his maturity, and I'm the biggest fan of that guy, but to say that he was in 2000, what was it, 25, the Heisman frontrunner and he should have won it? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No way. I mean, he was a guy that was – Oh, I'm not saying he was the frontrunner coming into the season. I'm just saying when you look back on everything – When you voted at Heisman time, I don't think it was a dunk. For me, because that was right after the Big Ten championship game. And for me, it was a no-brainer, right? Just the leadership and what he'd done. Let me ask you this, Rob. If he didn't do that in the Big Ten championship, would you have felt the same way? Yeah, so we talked about that. That was the moment to me. Yeah, the Big Ten championship game was the one that did finally kind of swing it to him. And then if you're lucky enough, and you're not, of course, because the Heisman voting has already had to be in, but to look back at what he did through the course of these playoffs and how he led them and how. But you look at Penn State and Iowa, and you would say, yeah, probably not a Heisman guy. I mean, the Heisman moments, but I'm talking entirety because I've coached and been around Heismans. You just mentioned a guy, Cam Newton. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. That was a whoa. Different. But who gave you a whoa this year? It was a down year for the Heisman. Yeah, good point. It was a down year for the Heisman. Now the woe is over with the Ohio State and then the playoff run. It's an absolute magical. He will go down in history, deservedly history. That's why I think the Heisman, Mark, should be now. They should be doing the Heisman now. Yeah. After the season. Yeah. I mean, those are those Heisman moments. I mean, there's some people, and I would get rid of the Heisman voters that vote early because they're lazy. So they have stopped that. You need to vote after the big games. Yeah, they have stopped that. They usually vote after championship weekend, right? Yeah, to your credit. They've done a great job with that. He earned it. He deserved it. I'm proud of him. He won it. You know, when you look at some of the quarterback numbers compared to the last few quarterbacks who have won it, like Joe Burrow, Bryce Young, et cetera, the numbers were kind of a little down. But at the end of the day, what he did for Indiana, 16-0, how he went to this playoff. 16-0, that's a good number. Yes, 16-0. I don't care what level you play football. I don't care what sport it is. 16-0 is hard to do, and he led this team to do it, Fernando Mendoza. How about their non-conference schedule? No one's ever going to talk. Kennesaw State, Old Dominion, Indiana State. Yeah. Yeah. That's why we were all skeptical of them because we were like, you ain't playing nobody. We ain't playing nobody. It's coming again next year. It's coming again next year. I already have been looking at their schedule. I don't know what they got going on because they ain't playing nobody, But when they play somebody, they put belt to butt. Bow, bow, bow. Big noon in Bloomington, huh? Big noon. I don't know how often Big Noon is going to be in Bloomington because it's a pretty soft schedule to open things up. But I'll tell you one weekend that jumps out, Coach. Buckeyes in Bloomington. Oh, type it in your calendar right now. Put it on your calendar right now, Mark. But Buckeyes in Bloomington, and guess who's got the target on them? Indiana. cream and crimson have the target on them not scarlet and gray cream and crimson have the target on them with the buckeyes in town welcome to the new world order so lou holtz used to always say and it's true as you climb the mountain takes passion energy because the arrows aren't pointed at you once you're at the top of the mountain it's nothing but fatigue you know why every arrow right now in college football is pointed at Indiana. Everyone that got Indiana on their schedule, it is circled. It is highlighted. It is bold, italicized, and underlined, and they are bringing your best shot. Hold on. Hit pause. Hit pause, the two of you. Let that sink in what you both just said. Indiana's on the top of the mountain, and everybody's coming for you. And I mean, blazing. They are coming after us. I know a bunch already that have told me they're coming after them. Yeah, and Coach, they're coming after them by replicating them. They're like, how did Indiana get it done? That's how we're going to do it. That's right. Just imagine how they whooped on Alabama. Alabama was Indiana. Just imagine how they whooped. Belt to what, Mark? Belt to what? Belt to ass. Hey. Huh. Huh. Hey. Hey. Just imagine how they whooped on Oregon. Do they play Oregon next year? Oh, my God. Oregon going to want some of that. Yeah. Watch out for Oregon. Ohio State wants some of that. They're going to want some of that. That was your Fresh Take of the Week presented by Wendy's. Join Team Tendies. Will Old Dominion want a piece of them? They want some of that too. They might get drafted off Indiana. And enjoy a lineup like never before. Crispy, juicy Tendies now at Wendy's. Love you, Wendy's. Thank you for your support all season long. Love you, Wendy's. Time now to sound off. And we're going to go back to before Kurt Cignetti even stepped on the football field in Bloomington. This is not his Google speech. This is another one inside Assembly Hall. Take a listen. Hey, look, I'm super fired up about this opportunity. I've never taken a backseat to anybody and don't plan on starting now. Purdue sucks. But so does Michigan in the highest state. Oh, my God. You know, like the AD and the wife might be like, hey, maybe just say old Dominion sucks and, you know, maybe take a shot at a Kent State. No, we're going right for the big boys from the tip. From the tip. Yep. Not taking a backseat to nobody, Coach. And that's who you want running your program, I'm an alpha dog like that who not only has the balls to say it, but more importantly has the cojones the onions to back it up That what Coach Signetti did I knew Signetti We talked about this one time Back we had dinner together back in 30 years ago He was at Pitt I think it was like 30 years ago Probably 98 So just under 30. And we remained kind of in touch, but not really. But then you really study his background. The guy really does win. His record's unbelievable. Google me. I mean, this is not a one-shot wonder, but I'll tell you what now. It is because I experienced it. Life's about, I remember, so real quick story. We won it in 06, Rob, in our first national championship. I remember I called my father in the locker room. I called Earl Bruce, my mentor, and I laid back. Because, I mean, this is an intense job. You know that. And I looked at them both, and I said, you know what the really cool thing is for the rest of my career? I get to do this for fun because we did it. That's the most incorrect statement made. It's about to get hard right now. Because the target, like you said, no one even thought of Indiana. I played against them a bunch of times. You know, it was kind of a whatever. That's a win. Everyone is targeted. Everyone is a target. And the big dogs want some of you. Ohio State wants some of you. Oregon wants some of you. Bama wants some of you. Miami wants some of you now. When they can get you on the schedule. And they want your coaching staff, too. I can't believe those two coordinators. Within a year, they'll be head coaches. You would think so, right, Coach? I was thinking about that. There's been no attrition to the coaching staff. And another reason that they've had so much success. And then our staffs, I mean, the great staffs, they get just poached, man. It stayed, the Bama staff stayed consistent from about 08 to about 13, 14, 15. And then it started. Yeah, it stayed consistent until about after like, yeah, about, because we won three out of four. We won in 09, we won in 11, and we won in 12. After that, it started breaking up. Once Kirby left and went to Georgia, it started breaking up. So, but what Coach Cignetti has for Indiana, he has the resources. With his contract, he said, I need the resources to be able to pay my coaches. That's the only way you're going to be able to keep them before they start leaving. Hey, by the way, that stadium, Memorial Stadium, it's going to look a lot different pretty soon. The money that's flown into Bloomington? Yeah, there's some things that they can do to upgrade that place. And again, why upgrade it, right? Like when Cignetti took over, there were all these pictures online last night I was seeing of like, Like, here's a snapshot of me sitting in the stands at Memorial Stadium, Cignetti's first game. And it's just emptiness, right? It's emptiness. And now people are going to be flooding in there. And there's so much they can do with the exterior, the interior. That place is, I mean, it's just, it's remarkable, Coach. Like, to be where, to remember what Indiana was when you would go in there with Ohio State, right? And now to put a pin in it and say, hey, let's go visit it two years from their national title and look at what Bloomington is going to be like. Like hotels are popping up already, right? We're staying at new hotels for big noon kickoff. Like all this energy that football has brought to that town and will continue to bring is nothing short of remarkable. Mark, you go in those kind of environments, and I always tell people that the pregame speech before the rivalry game or when you're playing in Alabama is not really that important. What is it? You want to keep the players down and you want to focus on your job. Against Indiana, you used to break the chalkboard. I would throw chairs. I would break the chalkboard. I would call us coach our coaches because we'd have to get some energy because you'd play in a place like that. Yep. You've got to bring your own injury. Yeah, the players were dead. And, you know, you don't have to get Ohio State fired up to play the Wolverines. You have to get Ohio State fired up to play an early game in Bloomington, Indiana. It was awful. Not anymore. No moss. Not anymore. Good for them, man. It's an amazing story. And you're right. Hoosiers part two coming to theaters. soon. Time now for three and out. When we come back, who is the next program to pull off in Indiana? We'll tell you next. Lady. Welcome back to the triple option presented by Wendy's urban Meyer, Mark Ingram, the second Rob stone back here with you time now for three and out. So Indiana, Indiana, maybe the most improbable national champion in football ever. For three and out this week, give me three programs, Mark, I'll start with you, that could be the next Indiana, meaning teams that are used to losing, have really bad records, and can somehow rise from the ashes to become national champion. You can do it a little bit tongue-in-cheek if you want. The losing is? Legit picks out there. Losing is teams. and pick some losers. There's a lot to pick from out there, my friend. Northwestern is currently the losing-est football program. All right, why don't we go Northwestern? If Indiana can do it, Northwestern should be able to do it, right? All they need is a Signetti and a Fernando Mendoza and somebody to maximize their whole team, like Coach Meyer says. So, yeah, Navy, Vanderbilt sucks, right? They got better over time. For sure. They got better over time. They've kind of gotten over to the winning side. so maybe they can continue to go hopefully not because i hate vanderbilt but uh losing his teams who knows navy vanderbilt who else sucks and there's a lot of bad teams that's uh that's okay we like navy so we'll go navy they're one of the losers let's go navy all right all right so you go you go northwestern vandy navy all right coach give me a team that's like looking down the deep well but might be able to you know pull some yeah i'm going three i've never gambled on sports because I was never allowed, but was it FanDuel? I want to bang out. I already didn't. No, I didn't do it yet because I don't know how, but Rice, Rutgers, and Wake. And why not, man? We're going to get you signed up for FanDuel. We're going to throw $100 on, and we're going to throw $100 on Rutgers and get you $100,000. So $100 gives me $100K? Yes, sir. That's enough. But I'm going to say Rice. I have no idea about Rice, no idea about Wake, but I'm going to throw him out there because if Indiana can, they can. And I will say Rutgers because Greg Sciano, who I'm biased, he's a great friend and a great football coach. Rob, he had him in the top five in the country at one point. 0-6. For sure he did. So why not? They must watch television. Why not? Well, here's the deal, right? In this day and age of college. Yeah. He never said Google me. I'm going to call him here in a minute and tell him to say that. Yeah. That's not Sciano's way. Well, so here's the deal, right? In this day and age, you got to be in one of the big conferences, right? I think tradition helps if you have some form of tradition in your university of winning. I think Northwestern can pull it off. The losingest program in college football right now, they're in Chicago. They're investing. They got the new stadium coming up now. When Fitzy was there, they had like every three years, Northwestern was a problem in the Big Ten. They can pull that off. They've seen it. They've been that close. To your point, Rutgers has been that close under Sciano. I'll throw another one at you. Lance Leipold at Kansas. Yeah, watch out for Kansas. Remember, two years ago, we were saying, here come the Jayhawks. They had a lot of energy and a lot of momentum. They're doing the stadium expansion as well. They have winning at that university courtesy of the basketball program, just like Indiana had winning at the basketball program. Put your money. Go get it, Rob. Don't tell us about it. Do it. There you go. There you go. You got that money on your chest. You got that Shadur Sanders on your chest. And Kansas. Time now for two-minute drill brought to you by FanDuel. Visit fanduel.com slash triple option to download the app and take advantage of a 50% profit boost today. So the season, sadly, is over. Time now for our way, way, way, way poorly researched early 2026 college football playoff championship pick. I don't think a lot of people had Indiana on their sheet last year. It was a lot of Ohio State repeating, right? And maybe Penn State and SEC getting their mojo back and getting that national title after being shut out. Two years in a row, now three years in a row. So, Mark, right now, our way too early 2026 national football champion is... Oh, the Fighting Irish and Marcus Freeman. CJ Carr coming back. They've been there. They was at the national championship. No love, though. No love. They was at the national championship two years ago. They probably should have been in a playoff this year. They have experience. They know how to win. The schedule ain't scary, as we typically know with Notre Dame. But they have Wisconsin, Rice, Michigan State, Purdue, North Carolina, Navy, Miami, rematch, Boston College, BYU, SMU, Syracuse, Stanford. That's got to be a playoff schedule, right? With CJ Carr coming back, Marcus Freeman. at the helm, knows how to handle success, knows what it looks like to win. Got him to the national championship two years ago. Notre Dame, way, way, way, extremely way too early. Because you know I don't give a piss about nothing but the tie. And I'm always driving with the tie. Okay. Coach, who's your way too early? Returning quarterbacks at Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas, and A&M. Can't go Texas. Every year I try to pick them. A&M, I don't know enough about. Oregon, Dante Moore, Ohio State, Notre Dame. Ohio State's got a rugged, this is the first rugged, rugged schedule they've had in a minute. But I'm going to go Oregon. I'm going to say Oregon, Dante Moore coming back. Big Ten wins it again four years in a row, and they're going to follow the pattern set or the template set by the last three national championships. It's got to stop. It's got to stop. Maturity, experience, grown-ass men in the locker room, Oregon. And they had a young roster this year, particularly at some skill spots. So those guys have grown up. Yeah, I think that's a great call. You usually take Texas, so you're not going to do it this year. I'm going to take Texas because it feels like the Longhorns are similar to the Buckeyes a couple years ago. As you mentioned, you don't have to have that returning quarterback. I feel like it certainly helps. And Arch Manning, finish the season strong now, guys. Over 3,100 passing yards, 26 touchdowns, 7 interceptions. Here's my one request to the good folks in Austin. let Arch talk like put him in front of the media let him do stuff let him be Arch Manning quit putting him in this little cocoon release Arch Manning to the wild let him be the Arch Manning that I think Texas fans want to see and want him to be they added Cam Coleman the number one receiver in the transfer portal from Auburn they already have Ryan Wingo they need to find the running game, right? That wasn't up to snuff. So they need to fortify up front. They need to find that bell cow. They got a dog-tuned freshman coming in from Chaminade down here in Florida, a tailback. So maybe that's the answer. And they brought in Will Muschamp. They brought him back, former coach and waiting. He's going to be the defensive coordinator. So I go Texas. I go Texas. Coach, you go Oregon and Mark says fight in Irish. But also, don't give a piss about none but the tide. They'll never get that Twiz, dude. I got it. Some early numbers though, just to put this in perspective, Ohio State, Notre Dame at plus 650. Indiana to run it back at plus 700. That's going to be a lot to ask of them. There's Texas at plus 750. Coach, your Ducks at plus 900. And finally, well, there's Georgia at 1100. The fight in Lane Kiffins at 1400. A&M, Texas Tech, and Miami. So a season is done. We're not done. Triple option goes throughout the college football season. Can't wait to continue the conversations about what transpires in college football after the games are done. Because as we learned last year, guys, we were not short of topics. There was so much to talk in college football throughout the season. But at the end of this college football season, the three of us want to thank you for listening, for watching the triple option. Man, it's great to do this. We enjoy it so much every week and glad you're a part of it. We love you. So, we love you more. So, follow us, subscribe us, rate us on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever it is you get your podcasts as well as social media. We are at 3XOptionShow. And as always, thanks to our wonderful sponsors, Wendy's and FanDuel. Thank you. Most importantly, thank you. Thank you for listening and watching. We'll see you next on the Triple Option. We love you.