Don Fischer, Paul Finebaum, and Indiana Credit: © Brett Davis-Imagn Images; © Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images; © Bobby Goddin/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
By Sam Neumann on

Don Fischer has been calling Indiana football for 53 years. That’s 53 years of watching a program lose more games than any other in college football history. 53 years of calling blowout losses to teams like Rutgers and Illinois. 53 years of waiting for a moment like Thursday’s Rose Bowl.

So when Kaelon Black scored on a 25-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to put Indiana up 31-3 on Alabama, Fischer had something to get off his chest.

“What are you thinking now, Paul Finebaum?”

Paul Finebaum told us what he thought of Indiana when he picked Alabama to win the Rose Bowl. He told the Hoosiers what he thought of them and their head coach, insisting that Curt Cignetti’s success was unsustainable and that Indiana’s administration would rue the day they signed the 64-year-old to a $93 million deal through 2033.

The coach who told the sport to “Google me,” Finebaum argued, still wasn’t among America’s elite.

For months, Finebaum used every available platform to poke holes in Indiana’s rise, treating one of the most dramatic turnarounds college football has seen as something flimsy, temporary, and undeserving of real respect.

Then, Indiana dismantled Alabama, 38–3.

And on Friday morning’s Get Up, we got to hear what Paul Finebaum was thinking as he praised Indiana for playing “just like a Nick Saban team.” After spending two years dismissing Cignetti’s turnaround, he finally gave the Hoosiers their due — even if it came a day late and only after being called out by the 78-year-old Fischer.

ESPN aired Fischer’s radio call during a replay of Indiana’s first touchdown, giving the longtime voice of the Hoosiers a national audience. Many appreciated the network for recognizing Fischer’s 53-year commitment to calling Indiana games, especially in a moment like this.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann