(La Porte, IN) - A La Porte man who played football at Indiana University is still pinching himself over the Hoosiers national championship.

The undefeated Hoosiers last night defeated the Miami Hurricanes 27 to 21. Owen Strieter watching on TV with friends said the game still being on the line in the fourth quarter was pretty nerve wracking then came victory.

“Things were definitely getting tense. My buddies were saying they were feeling nauseous like they were going to puke right at the end.  Once they pulled it off, it just was surreal.  I just kind of stood there and watched.  I couldn’t really say anything.  It was fun,” he said.

Strieter played for I.U. in 2017 and 2018.  He says it’s still hard to believe the Hoosiers have come this far in just a short period of time.

“To see this and know how far away we were from this when I was playing there, it’s insane.  I don’t think anything like this has ever been seen. I don’t know if we’ll see anything like this again,” he said.

Indiana was 5-7 during Strieter’s final season and 3-9 before head coach Curt Cignetti took over the program in 2024.