Best Season of All-Time
1945 – It’s slim pickings for Hoosier football history, but the time around World War II was the best in the history of the program. Indiana won the Big Ten, got all the way up to a No. 4 national ranking, and finished with just one-tie on the season for a 9-0-1 record. The lone blemish came on a 7-7 tie with Northwestern.
The team was a collection of former WWII vets that were granted 60-day leaves as the war ended in early September. The Hoosiers were led by Indiana legend Pete Pihos and head coach Bo McMillin.
Only national champion Army, Alabama (No. 2) and Navy (No. 3) finished in the polls ahead of the Hoosiers. It was definitely a different era then.
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Best Indiana Hoosier of All-Time
Indiana Hoosiers Running Back Anthony Thompson broke the record for most career TD's with 65. He finished his senior season with 1,793 yards on 358 attempts and 24 touchdowns. Along with winning the Maxwell Award, he was also named the Big Ten MVP and Fi… https://t.co/gHW8Pg5mmd pic.twitter.com/p41aeElZTZ
— Maxwell Football (@MaxwellFootball) November 1, 2018
Anthony Thompson, RB (1986-1989) – Conversations about the best Indiana football player of all time begin and end with Thompson. He came to Bloomington out of Terre Haute, Indiana as a legendary high school football player and didn’t disappoint.
He rushed for just 806 yards his freshman season, but that had to do more with not giving the kid the ball enough. He went over 1,000 yards each of his last three seasons and finished his career as a Hoosier with 5,299 yards. He rushed for over 1,700 yards his senior season and could have easily won the Heisman, but finished second in the voting behind Houston quarterback Andre Ware.
Still, Thompson was a two-time First-Team All-American and All-Big Ten Performer. He still lives in Bloomington today and probably gets free dinners and upgraded value meals wherever he goes.