Curt Cignetti Previews Western Illinois Game On Inside Indiana Football Radio Show

Curt Cignetti also spoke about his feelings on fan atmosphere at Memorial Stadium.

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti walks on the field prior to the game at Memorial Stadium. / Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Inside Indiana Football Radio Show aired a day early on Wednesday due to Indiana’s short week of preparation for its 7 p.m. ET Friday home contest against Western Illinois.

Since it was a short week, the show was not taped live at Hoosier’s Hank East. Indiana coach Curt Cignetti and host Don Fischer did a pre-recorded version of the show.

Per usual, the show looked back on Indiana’s 31-7 victory over Florida International last Saturday and looks forward to Friday’s matchup with Western Illinois.

Here are the highlights from the show:

General thoughts on Indiana’s win over Florida International …

Cignetti: I think overall, it was a good start for us. I mean, there was a lot of energy. A lot of energy in the stadium. I thought we played with great effort. I thought our defense swarmed the ball, did a lot of great things. You know, we held them to less than 200 yards total offense, 53 yards rushing, four sacks and eight TFLs.

And offensively, you know, we put four straight drives together, from the second drive to the first drive of the third quarter – not counting the one play drive at the end of the half – that averaged 75 yards and 11 plays, three straight touchdown drives and a field goal, which should have been a touchdown if we complete the halfback pass.

On having a commanding lead …

Cignetti: As a coach, now, that’s where you really got to do the job, and not being satisfied, keeping the hammer down, really being on the kids, trying to detect any kind of relaxation or warm fuzzies where you feel good, and really kind of keep that attitude that you need to have.

But they put together a drive, you know, we didn’t play very well on a few plays there, and then on a critical 3rd-and-5, because we were starting to tighten up. We had a huge missed assignment on a run that spit down tight to the goal line and then they got it in the next play. I wasn’t really pleased because they were getting the ball first in the second half, right? It goes from 21-0 to a two-score game, and if they punch it in again, all of a sudden it’s a one-score game. But our defense really responded well, came out and shut them down.

On the learning process of the team …

Cignetti: In terms of how we want to play throughout the game and our style of play? It is (a learning process). And we got a lot of new faces on this team too. And it’s a new team. But you know? That doesn’t excuse false starts, holding penalties on the perimeter. Some of the things that happened are things that can’t happen and got to be cleaned up.

On penalties …

Cignetti: In the opener, you might see a few more, but you know, the last couple of years we’ve been the least penalized team in the league, my teams have. Now the penalties have shown up in the scrimmage, but I did ask the officials to call it close because we don’t have officials at our practice. A lot of people have officials at their practice every day, and it helps to have officials with your practice, but we’ve got to do a better job of keeping our hands inside, not grabbing cloth.

On injuries suffered by running back Kaelon Black and wide receiver Donaven McCulley …

Cignetti: (Black) was on kickoff, ran down there and got one carry and his hamstring was a little tight. I think it happened on the kickoff and (taking Black out of the game) was precautionary. You know those hamstrings are things that you don’t really want to tough out.

(McCulley) got dinged up on the one he caught on 3rd-and-5. It was a short pass. He was a single receiver into the bench, our bench, the safety came down and delivered a pretty good blow. He’s day-to-day. I don’t expect it to be a long term thing, but we’ll see how he is this week.

On the defense …

Cignetti: I really thought we swarmed to the ball. We stuffed the run game. We kept the quarterback in the pocket for the most part, hit them a lot, sacked them four times. And when you watch the tape, you know we’ve got multiple hats at the point of contact, swarming the football.

On linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker …

Cignetti: Fisher is a really heady guy, kind of a quarterback, and directs the traffic, very instinctive … I thought the 15-yard penalty on him, that was a clean football play. I told the official that too.

Jailin Walker, you know, he’s a sideline to sideline guy. He can fly and he’s made a lot of big plays for us in the past. So yeah, they’re two good players.

On team attitude …

Cignetti: This is just the culture and the type of team I’m used to coaching. I mean, I’m in charge of creating the identity and culture and responsible for the people I bring in and then have to kind of mold that attitude. I’m not used to anything different. When you take a new job, you watch tape from the before and you see things. I felt like we’d come a long way and I was anxious to see what it would look like that first game. We got after it pretty good, but you know, it’s only one game.

On tackling …

Cignetti: We've tackled one time that was a spring game. We didn't tackle it all fall camp. So you can either tackle or you can't. Maybe by not practicing tackling too much, they're not quite as beat up and more willing to tackle. But we tackled really well Saturday. And like I said, had multiple hats at, you know, at the football so something to build on.

On fans leaving before the game ended …

Cignetti: There were a lot of times when I coach a game, I don't notice either way, but I do notice a great crowd. I thought we had a good crowd to start the game. I’m a little surprised it wasn't sold out. I'm used to playing front of sellout crowds at home, and we got to get to that point, I think, where we sell out at home. Now, I understand we have to play consistently and be successful too, to get that done. So, you know, that thing that goes hand in hand.

But we got to keep ‘em in the stands somehow, some way. And you know, the in-game experience, you know, we got to play well and so, you know, they enjoy watching us. And you know, we got to kind of find ways to engage the fans during the game too, whether it's music or something during timeouts. We just can't rely on the football game alone.

But I did notice how empty the stadium was in the second half. And I know our players did too, and that does have an effect. And that's why, you know, the crowd is a 12th man. We need you there. We need you cheering create, momentum, energy in the stadium. And you know, that's, you know, there's a lot of things we got to improve on … Look, I want to be the best in everything we do. That should be the goal. And so, you know, baby steps.

On playing a struggling team like Western Illinois, a team that has lost 25 games in a row …

Cignetti: They had a rough opener. They don't have a history of great success recently. And you know, we got to keep our standards high during practice and go out there and play with a lot of energy and play play in, play out and execute. And this is one of those games where you're kind of fighting human nature a little bit.

On fighting the notion that you should win …

Cignetti: You got standards of performance, and you can never lower your standards and compromise your standards and and when you see things that aren't what then you got to address them and confront it, confront the issue. So we have improved the way we practice and the way we approach the game, play and play out. And we got to continue to get better. We got progress to make.

On whether Cignetti has changed through his career …

Cignetti: You are always getting better or getting worse. You never stay the same. And the trends of the game change a little bit, and you got a few more athletes at this level than you did James Madison. So maybe we're running a few more plays of practice than maybe we did there.

Philosophically, the core is the core, but you're always tweaking a few things a little bit you're trying to implement the best plan for your given situation all the time. So more same than different, but some subtle differences as an offensive guy.

On how much of the offense is installed …

Cignetti: I think in camp, you know, most of the offense is introduced, but then when you get in-season, and especially once you get into games, three, four, five, six, you're accumulating some tape on people. You're going to see new things. That’s just an evolving process all the time, because they're studying you, you're studying them, and you're trying to stay a step ahead of them.

On playing night football and one more comment on the atmosphere …

Cignetti: I love night football. I mean, now look, if I had my druthers, I’d play at 12 noon, so I could get home at six. Watch a little football, visit with the family, but night football is awesome.

I'm looking forward to playing Friday night. Let's pack this stadium. Let's keep them in here from the beginning to the end. Have a great atmosphere and walk out of the building with smile on our face.

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