Sports

Oregon Football Staffer Showed The Utmost Class In Loss To Indiana With Special Gift For D’Angelo Ponds

by Last Updated
D'Angelo Ponds Indiana Game Ball Oregon Staffer Class Sportsmanship Gesture
© Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Indiana put Oregon to bed during the second quarter of the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Peach Bowl. The game was over at halftime.

Despite the crushing defeat, the Ducks showed the utmost class toward the Hoosiers.

No player was more important to victory than D’Angelo Ponds. His college football opponent made sure to show him the respect he deserves.

Indiana clobbered Oregon.

The Peach Bowl wasn’t even close. First and foremost, it was a home game for Indiana. The crowd split at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was at least 90% red to maybe 10% green and yellow. Oregon was at a disadvantage as soon as it ran out of the tunnel.

And then Dante Moore threw a pick-six on the first play of the game. Yikes.

Although the Ducks were able to get seven points right back on the next scripted drive by Will Stein, they could not keep pace with the Hoosiers on either side of the ball throughout the rest of the night. The final score reflects a beatdown.

Fernando Mendoza completed 85% of his passes for five touchdowns. Kaelon Black, Roman Hemby and Khobie Martin averaged more than three yards per carry. Elijah Sarratt finished with seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Indiana converted 11 of 14 attempts on third down.

It was a dominant win from start to finish.

D’Angelo Ponds was the MVP.

The Peach Bowl gives MVP awards to one player on offense and one player on defense. It was Mendoza on offense and D’Angelo Ponds on defense.

D'Angelo Ponds MVP
© Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The former three-star recruit started his career at James Madison. He followed Curt Cignetti to Indiana and was named as a two-time First-Team All-Big Ten player in 2024 and 2025. He was also named as a consensus First-Team All-American in 2025 and the defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl to begin 2026. Deservedly so.

Ponds took Moore to the house on the first play of the game at the Peach Bowl to set the tone. The 5-foot-9 defensive back got a great jump on the ball.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium was rocking.

Ponds even caught a pass out of the backfield on third down during the second quarter!

Offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan wondered why he hadn’t done that more often.

All of his doubters (if there were any) were silenced.

D’Angelo Ponds won the game for the Hoosiers as soon as he crossed the goal line on the pick-six. He will be immortalized as a legend in Bloomington. And now he is going home.

Oregon showed D’Angelo Ponds the utmost respect after the win. A staffer made sure to find him on the field during the celebration to present him with a game ball.

This might be something that happens more often than I realize but I have never seen anything like this.

A staffer from the losing team sought out a star player on the winning side to present him with a gift, to show his appreciation for such an impressive performance. Final score aside, this kind of thing is what matters the most. Shoutout to the Ducks. That is pure class.