Indiana football cheating? Aiden Fisher calls social media speculation 'ridiculous'

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BLOOMINGTON — Just how dominant has Indiana football football been in the College Football Playoff?

The one-sided nature of the No. 1 Hoosiers (15-0) recent wins over Alabama and Oregon left fans on social media speculating they must somehow be gaining access to inside information.

Indiana starting linebacker Aiden Fisher addressed the unfounded claims on Tuesday afternoon while answering a question about the defense’s strong starts.

“I’ve seen all the different stuff on our team,” Fisher said. “It’s funny and kind of ridiculous to me.”

Fisher, who has a detailed daily film study routine and puts in countless hours at the team’s facilities, smiled as he traced IU’s success to all the hard work they put in.

“We watch film, we study, we prepare,” Fisher said. “I know a lot of people put different things out, but we just do a great job of preparing. We see hints and things we can see throughout our preparation and we have the best defensive coordinator in college football, when you match all those things you get off to fast starts as defense.”

Miami football coach Mario Cristobal didn’t see anything nefarious about IU’s success either.

During a press conference on Monday, Cristobal called IU the “best overall team and best defense” the Hurricanes have faced.

“You’ve got to understand, these guys, they’ve played a lot of games together,” Cristobal said. “A lot of these guys came over from JMU. They went deep into the playoffs, right, a year ago. They’ve been in this system and have played a lot of ball together. And therefore that’s why you see the instantaneous reactions. The physicality, the closing speed that they have on a-down-after down basis.”

Fisher, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds, defensive tackle Tyrique Tucker and defensive end Mikail Kamara have at least three full seasons together playing for defensive coordinator Bryant Haines.

Indiana football goes into the CFP championship game ranked No. 4 in total defense (260.9 yards allowed per game) and No. 2 in scoring defense (11.1 points allowed). The Hoosiers average 3.0 sacks per game (tied for sixth in the FBS) and 8.5 tackles for loss (second).

The film showed Cristobal that IU defenders know Haines’ scheme from, “top to bottom.”

“They’re multiple up front and they’re multiple on the back end,” Cristobal said. “So the way that they understand what you’re doing so well, they set up and line up in a manner where they challenge your IDs. You know, they’ve done a great job confusing opponent offensive lines with how they line up and how they bluff and disguise what they’re doing, not only in the front seven, but on the back end. That’s the challenge with them.”

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana football’s Aiden Fisher calls social media cheating allegations ‘ridiculous’

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