Every Championship game has something “SPECIAL” about it. But, the 2026 NCAA Football Championship was not only a Championship game but was a game between two very good teams both peaking at the right moment. Some have called one of the best games EVER in a NCAA Championship game. It was “THE GAME” for me. It had many different angles, key plays, outstanding plays on the offensive & defensive side of the ball in “THE GAME.”  Let’s take a closer look at THE GAME …

…Like many of you prior to the game, I had chosen who I thought would win the game. I told my wife that Miami was just “too athletic” to be beaten. Well… so much for being a “bookie” 😊

…Now most of us intended on watching the game @ home. But….it you wanted to attend, it’d cost you a pretty penny. The get-in price for 2 seats together at the 65,000-seat Hard Rock Stadium as of 5 p.m. on Monday was: thru SeatGeek: $4,109; Ticketmaster: $4,080; Vivid Seats: $4,028; StubHub: $4,217. Not the transportation, food, motel/hotel cost!!!

…Those who wanted to “profit” from their betting “skills” saw these odds.  Spread: Indiana (-7.5 points). The Money Line: had Indiana @-325. (You’d have to bet $325 to win $100); Miami (+260; bet $100 to win $260). So, the oddsmakers really had Indiana as a big favorite. As usual, they were right!

… Indiana football fans have been remarkably patient. The Hoosiers are much, much better known for their Men’s basketball team & their Men’s soccer team not football. Lots of that is due to the Bobby Knight days of leading Indiana basketball but not JUST him. The Hoosiers Men’s Soccer Program has won 8 NCAA TITLEs (2^nd only  in NCAA Championships to the 10 titles of St Louis U)

…But this Hoosier football team was special, real special, in 2025. This team broke the mold of the Indiana Football Tradition. This team had a big, strong, powerful offensive line; a stout defense; reliable kicking game and several athletes who played hard every play.  But it wasn’t long ago that their football team was marching in the other direction. In 2022, the Hoosier football program  grudgingly reached the awful record of 700 losses in Football. That’s the most in NCAA football history!!! Sooo…football was clearly on the “back burner” for many, many years!

…Credit MUST be given to Indiana Head Coach, Curt Cignetti, in a huge way!! In his 2^nd year @ Indiana, he accomplished a “turn around” that was remarkable. He had been an assistant coach for 26 years.  (To put it another way, he was an assistant college football coach, when his players were born!!) He was an assistant to Nick Saban for 4 of those years (2007-2010). During that time Bama won the 2009 National Championship. He was known as being very thorough, straight forward, and completely engaged in his duties as a Coach or Head Coach.

…But…he really, really “paid his dues” as an Assistant coach. Take a look @ his 42 year career climb:  

1983-1984- Pittsburgh– Began as a graduate assistant;

1985-Davidson– Coached Quarterbacks (QBs) and Wide Receivers (WRs).

1986-1988 Rice– Coached QBs  

1989-92 QB Coach—Temple

1993-1999; Univ of Pittsburgh Coached QBs and TE.

2000-2006 N. Carolina ST: Served as Recruiting Coordinator, QBs, and TEs coach, coaching Philip Rivers and recruiting Russell Wilson; the team saw significant bowl success.

2007-2010-Alabama- Asst Coach–Recruiting Coordinator and WRs coach under Nick Saban, he was part of a national championship team, contributing to a long regular-season win streak.

2011-16: Indiana University of Pennsylvania- Head Coach–

2017-18: Elon University– Head Coach–

2019-23: James Madison University– Head Coach–

2024-Present: Head Coach—Indiana University

WOW!!! What a journey that took tons of persistence, personal adjustments, coaching adaptations! Don’t you sometimes wonder about the families of those coaches who are moved continually throughout their careers?

…Cignetti becomes the 2^nd former assistant coach to Nick Saban to win a national title. Kirby Smart won 2 NCAA Championships back-back in 2021 & 2022 as Georgia HC. Other college coaches from the “Saban tree” are Lane Kiffin (LSU, Ole Miss); Dan Lanning (Oregon); Pete Golding (Ole Miss); Mario Cristobal (Miami).  So BOTH head coaches were from the Nick Saban “tree” of college coaches! Amazing!!  Who’s the next coach in the “tree line” of Saban-Smart? Watch for Glenn Schumann (Defensive Coordinator) to be named in the next year or 2 as a Head Coach–@ Someplace U. He’s been on a defensive coaching staff for 6 national championship teams!

…Cignetti seems to be very thorough, very intense…Even at halftime as he was walking off the field with a national television reporter, who probably was expecting a mild, quick response, Cignetti  blurted out, “There’s 3 personal fouls on the quarterback(IU’s QB) that weren’t called in one drive that need to be called because they’re obvious personal fouls. “’I’m all for letting them play. But when you cross the line, you gotta call it. They were black and white calls.” What an interview, heh?

…Sooo…subtlety is not his style!  He is known, by most everyone, for his “directness”.  It’s part of his every-day practice. You became 1^st string by your play, not your reputation, not your experience, not your connections, or your accolades given to you by the press. It was simple, you had to be the best in your position. Clearly, this directness is from the Nick Saban school of coaching!

…the KEY Play of the game (at least from my view), came in the 3^rd quarter. Indiana played its usual ball control, grind it out, offense (as they’ve done all season to every opponent) to a 10-0 halftime lead. Miami’s Mark Fletcher Jr. ripped off a 57-yard TD run, cutting the deficit to 10–7 and instantly shifting the momentum to Miami. After struggling for much of the first half and being shutout, Miami still seemed to have life, energy, and momentum as Indiana’s offense was beginning to stall.

…. But, the momentum (as it often does) disappeared almost instantly on a “special team” play.  Their next offensive possession, Miami was stopped after 3 downs and forced to punt. NO Disaster there…but despite the Hoosier rushing only 3 defenders on the punt, Indiana edge rusher, Mikail Kamara, broke through cleanly and blocked the punt, which was recovered in the end zone by Indiana for a TD. That mistake was branded “inexcusable” by former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho on social media, as well as numerous other viewers. To me… THAT WAS THE PLAY OF THE GAME!

…My view is that ANY punt block is carelessness by the offensive blockers-period. The block of the Offensive nemen at the Line of Scrimmage on a punt doesn’t have to be sustained for long but you must slow down the rusher from sprinting in on the punter. Punters get their punt off between 1.2 and 1.4 seconds with them lining up approximately 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage and actually kicking it around 12 yards from the LOS. You don’t need an A+ block to keep the defender from blocking a punt… even C+ level of  block will probably do it. Blocking a punt is extremely, extremely rare at any level !!

…Then, the Hurricanes rebounded and pushed across another TD when powerful Mark Fletcher powered it over for a 3 yd TD. Miami kept fighting…as they cut the lead to 24-21 after Frosh WR, Malachi Toney took a pop pass 22 yards for TD to make it 24-21.

…Indiana added a Field Goal to make it a 27-21 game but Miami got the ball back. QB Carson Beck moved the Hurricanes across midfield and earned a roughing-the-passer penalty to extend the possession, but Indiana defensive back Jamari Sharpe sealed the game by undercutting a deep throw and intercepting it with a mere 44 seconds remaining.

….3^rd downs are always very important to winning games. In this one…  At one point, Miami  was 0-for-6 on third downs. They improved only slightly as the game unfolded but Miami still finished with a poor, 3-for-11 rate in 3^rd down conversion. Meanwhile Indiana went 6-for-15 on 3^rd down efforts. Some say Miami’s defense performed at an underrated performance, I just think that the Hoosiers were extremely well trained, disciplined and had big, strong, skillful size up front. QB Mendoza helped chip at the margins where Beck couldn’t.

In the mighta-coulda-shoulda world…had  the Hurricanes improved their rate in the first half, apart from the doinked field-goal try, this could’ve been a different ball game.

…. This championship stopped the run from 2014 to 2023, where Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson and Georgia dominated the sport, winning eight of 10 national titles. Clearly, all those titles expanded their recruiting success snowballed when they were the only programs that could enter a recruit’s living room and reasonably promise access to the Playoff. I must admit that I had forgotten about Clemson’s terrific success. But in the long run, it’s better for the sport of college football to have a variety of teams winning the title.

…I can’t remember all the football games that I’ve watched…but, at this moment, this was the BEST NCAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME of all-time!  It was THE GAME!!

P.S.  It didn’t take long for the NIL to rear its ugly head after THE GAME. Indiana QB Alberto Mendoza, who is the younger brother of Fernando Mendoza, the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and presumptive top pick in April’s NFL draft, to hold a press conference.  On Tuesday, Alberto announced his exit from the program. He’s transferring to play for Georgia Tech in 2026. Alberto will join a Yellow Jackets team that enjoyed a strong 2025, posting a 9–4 record—its best since ’16. Now a Junior, Alberto played in parts of 9 games this past season. He completed 18 of 24 passes for 286 yards and 5 touchdowns—probably mostly in mop-up situations. Maybe he just wants to escape from the shadow of his older brother… or maybe he just wanted more NIL money? At any rate, I hate to say it but…I feel like NIL money reached him. From my view–It’s ruining college football. 

… Thanks for your read and, of course, YOUR thoughts & comments!  Bob